David Martindale ‘fairly happy’ with Livingston’s display despite dour draw
Posted Thursday, December 28, 2023 by PA
Livingston manager David Martindale was left ruing his best side’s chance falling to defender Mikey Devlin as they fought out a goalless draw with St Johnstone.
However, the Lions boss insists he was “fairly happy” with elements of his side’s display despite remaining rooted to the foot of the cinch Premiership.
Midfielder Scott Pittman and striker Bruce Anderson also passed up decent opportunities in attack before skipper Devlin had the chance to snatch a dramatic late victory.
The draw leaves the Almondvale men without a win in 11 games and four points adrift at the bottom.
Martindale said: “I thought we were the ones kicking on to try and get the winner.
“We got info into the players at half-time and they probably created the best three or four chances of the game.
“You look at Pittman’s, he has to do better. Bruce had one at the keeper’s right-hand post; Mick [Devlin] again – don’t hit the target.
“When I look at the chances created I thought we were the team going out in the second half.”
On Devlin’s late miss, Martindale added: “I thought why is it falling to Mick?
“It’s difficult. Mick’s is a really good chance, but it’s falling to a centre-back in the penalty box. I think Pittman’s is probably the best chance.
“I think there needs to be a bit of individual responsibility on the offensive players, I think they have to be a wee bit more brave and show more composure in the opponents’ box.
“I don’t want to sound delusional – we’re sitting bottom of the league – but I was fairly happy with some of the performances we’ve had.
“Tonight, we had two or three good opportunities to take something from the game and don’t hit the target.”
Meanwhile, St Johnstone boss Craig Levein reckons the “pressure” got to both teams in the stalemate.
The Saints had the ball in the net with a Luke Robinson strike, but it was ruled out for offside.
There was little in the way of quality as Levein’s outfit stayed in ninth in the Premiership table and extended their lead over Motherwell in second bottom to three points.
He said: “It was two teams playing safe football. In the second half, I thought we were a bit better, but it was all too safe for my liking.
“We’ve done enough in the last seven games where we’ve had good 15, 30-minute spells and controlled the game.
“But we played the safe ball too many times tonight, and so did Livingston.
“I think subconsciously, if you keep the gap [to the bottom] then that can feel better than losing.
“Maybe both teams had that idea in their heads. It’s not something we’d spoken about, but I’ve been there 100 times and know what it feels like.
“The pressure has been on for all the wrong reasons and I think that’s what we saw tonight. It looked to be a reasonable chance [for Devlin].
“We had Luke’s goal offside too and Nicky had a chance. I’d like to be talking about more passages of good play, but I’m struggling to.”
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