David Martindale looked forward to Tuesday’s visit of St Mirren to The Home of the Set Fare Arena (19.45) despite their 1-0 defeat at William Hill Premiership pace-setters, Heart of Midothian FC.
The West Lothian club’s manager (pictured) declared: “The boys have got to take a lot of self-belief and confidence from that.”
Undoubtedly, The Lions roared in the second-half at Tynecastle, and took control of parts of the action.
They also created what Martindale said were “good chances” with lanky striker, Tete Yengi, finding himself with a clear header deep into second-half injury time. It was saved. Yengi showed his frustration.
Overall, Martindale conceded that Livi rode their luck in the first 25 minutes when Hearts turned on the style, playing eye-catching football, but he reflected on what he called “a tough couple of days” after their 3-1 home defeat to Dundee United in midweek.
However, he said: “I need to get Tuesday (v Dundee United) out of my system. I am going to be honest, the players were down on Tuesday night. Wednesday was a tough day at the office, one of the toughest I’ve had at the football club. A few home truths went out, questioned the players’ personality, made some big calls coming into this game (at Tynecastle).”
On the game, Martindale said: “Hearts are at the top of the league for a reason, I kind of expected a wee bit on an onslaught. We managed to get through that. He (Jerome Prior, Livingston’s goalkeeper) came up with a big save against Harry Milne, he came up with a big save against Ryan McGowan, Ryan thought he was a Hearts player.
“Get them in at half-time, tweak it slightly on how they need to press, not how we were trying to press. We needed to be a wee bit braver on the ball, we needed to put our foot on the ball, we were a wee bit erratic, a wee big chaotic in the first-half, and I thought the second-half the players were very, very good.
“They tried to make passes, they controlled parts of the game, they had more control in the second-half and I felt we created enough chances to get something from the game. Couple of big chances with Tete Yengi, Mo Sylla had a big chance.
“We had three players on the park making their debut, to be honest, it felt like Connor McLennan was making his debut.
“Connor has been stop, start, injured, concussion, felt I was getting a new player on the park, and I thought he was brilliant. Wee Sami (Samson Lawal) came out of the team against Motherwell and I thought he came on and was brilliant, so I am leaving here disappointed with the result but there were positives within the performance.
“This is not an out, not looking for an out, but we have just come out from the Championship and we ran Hearts, who are sitting at the top of the league, six points, away from home, very, very, close.”
