Livingston make the trip along the M6 to Paisley on Saturday (kick-off 15.00) seeking some pre-Christmas cheer having not won a game since August 9.

They go in against St Mirren, a club on a high having shocked Celtic to win the Scottish League Cup at Hampden.

A historic day for the club, but they must put that success behind them and concentrate on looking for points to lift themselves up the William Hill Premiership. St Mirren are ninth with 14 points from 15 matches and The Buddies have only won one of their last five league matches.

Livingston have drawn two of their last five and prop up the 12-strong table with nine points from 16 starts.

The Lions go into Saturday’s game, however, having battled back from 2-0 down to level 2-2 with Dundee, a game Martindale felt his men should have won. He argued that Livi were the better team.

Another concern after the 90 minutes at Almondvale was the loss of two goals which Martindale claimed were “embarrassing, really, really poor” and he already has eyes on the transfer market with the window about to open.

Scoring goals has been an issue for the West Lothian club. The men from The Home of the Set Fare Arena have scored 17 so far. That’s not the lowest total as second-bottom Kilmarnock also have 17 while fellow-strugglers, Dundee, who are tenth, have netted on 15 occasions and St Mirren have only 14.

Defensively, the Paisley side have shipped 22 goals. Livingston have let in 31, the second worst total in the league, with Kilmarnock having the worst record having conceded 32.

Currently, Martindale is scouring the market looking for what he calls “game changers”. Basically, he is seeking quality in the final third of the pitch in a bid to secure survival in the Premiership.

That is his stated goal after being promoted via the nerve-jangling play-offs last season.

Martindale believes you can control a game, have the lion’s share of possession, and have shots, but you need to make that count by finding the net.

He does not want to lose any more ground in the survival race by suffering a road reverse on Saturday.

At least has the comfort of knowing that his hand-picked men in the dressing room still believe they can beat the drop. Skipper, Ryan McGowan (pictured by Nigel Duncan), red carded in the dying embers of the Dundee game, assured the media after the draw with Dundee that his men still believe.

Now they have to start delivering to lift spirits among the club’s success-hungry fans.