Livingston

Image source, SNS

David Martindale is urging his Livingston players to get used to the "unforgiving nature" of the Scottish top flight.

The West Lothian club have picked up five points from their opening six Premiership matches having conceded stoppage-time winners in two of their last three matches.

Martindale is hopeful his players will learn from their mistakes as they prepare to welcome Rangers on Sunday.

"If we had got the two points from those games we would have been sitting third on the table last Saturday night," the Livi boss said.

"But that's the unforgiving nature of the Premiership. That's the fine margins at this level and I feel as a group, we need to understand that very, very quickly.

"If we play like we did against Dundee in the Championship last year, we'd have probably won 2-0 or 3-0. It's just different levels, different players and the unforgiving nature of the Premiership."

But Martindale isn't looking to change much about his side when Rangers visit.

"We'll just treat it like any other game, really," he added.

"If we were going away to Ibrox we'd potentially approach the game slightly different, but we're at home and I think we've got to kind of stick to how we want to play.

"I don't want to play here and shut up shop. I want to stick to as many of the principles that we're trying to force into the players this year, so we want to go and try and get the three points."

Image source, SNS

David Martindale is hoping his Livingston side can capitalise on any fatigue in Rangers' ranks after their Europa League defeat by Genk on Thursday.

The Glasgow side, who sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership after failing to win any of their five games so far, lost 1-0 at home to their Belgian visitors while playing more than half the game with 10 men.

"You're playing against a team that's played like 72 hours previous," Martindale told Sky Sports. "So I think that's always good when you've not played.

"Whether it's Europe or just a domestic game, I think it's always difficult. But they've got a big squad, there's a lot of international players within that squad, so they're capable of handling those demands."

Martindale played down any notion that this is a good time to play Rangers despite the perception that they are in turmoil under new head coach Russell Martin.

"No, not at all," he said. "I'm trying not to comment on other clubs, if I'm honest.

"I just want to come up this year and focus on Livingston. I don't really buy into the narrative that they're not in a good place.

"I think they're in a transitional period. We'll still need to be at our very, very best if we want to try and get anything from the game."

Image source, PA Media

David Martindale hopes to add Russell Martin to the list of managers who lost their first trip to Livingston, including Steven Gerrard, Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou, with Rangers in West Lothian on Sunday. (Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

• Livingston are winless in their past 21 meetings with Rangers in all competitions (D2 L19) since a 1-0 league victory in September 2018. The Lions have scored just four goals in these last 21 clashes.

• Rangers have won nine of their past 10 away games at Livingston in all competitions (D1), including their latest six in a row.

• Livingston have lost three of their past four league games (D1), conceding 2+ goals in each of those defeats – including a 2-1 loss to Hearts in their last home match in the Scottish Premiership.

• Rangers are winless in six league games (D5 L1), the joint-longest run in their entire history (level with six other runs of six, most recently in December 2005). The Ibrox side have also failed to win any of their opening five matches of a league campaign for only the second time, after 1978-79 (first six).

• Rangers have the lowest xG per shot rate of any side in the Scottish Premiership so far this season (0.08), with their 66 shots resulting in an xG total of 5.6.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

The last-gasp penalty that condemned to us to defeat at Dundee has created controversy, stoked magnificently by Davie Martindale.

Our manager gave a trademark honest view about the incident and his frustrations at the referee.

Detractors will say it's another Premiership manager deflecting from a poor result. I think most folks will say Davie has a very good point.

I watched the 'foul' in real time and thought oh no, it's a penalty – then I viewed the replay and believed it would get overturned.

Then the ref followed the advice from the VAR to have another look and I was sure the penalty was getting binned. Somehow the ref stuck to his guns and that was that. Defeat snatched from an honourable draw. Davie's right to call this out.

Imagine if it happened to an Old Firm team? Imagine it was a title or relegation decider. Meltdown would ensue.

In the past week, high-profile mistakes have been highlighted by the Scottish FA review panel. Apologies are too late when games are turned on these decisions.

I did prefer games in the Championship when, right or wrong, you knew that was a decision or a goal.

VAR is here stay but it has to be used properly. Other sports can do it and do it quickly so why can't football?

We asked for your views on Livingston's 3-2 defeat against Dundee.

Here's what some of you said:

Del: Livi were poor. Barely laid a glove on Dundee. Could've won it amazingly, but that would've been undeserved. Still, that isn't a penalty. Livi need some fight, cohesion and desire to go and win these winnable games. David Martindale told us we'd be going for it this season, that needs to start soon.

Derek: Absolutely criminal. Deserved to be 2-0 down but did brilliantly to come back and should have won it at the death only for Dundee to break away and get a controversial penalty.

Livingston manager David Martindale was far from happy as a late penalty proved decisive at Dens Park, but what did you make of the match?

• Match report

• Have your say

Image source, SNS

Livingston manager David Martindale tells BBC Scotland: "We've only got ourselves to blame for the first two goals in all honesty. I don't think we really started playing with any real intent, any real purpose, until we went 2-0 behind.

"We go up the park, there's an attacking phase, we've got to score. We've got to score to make it 3-2. Anyway, we don't.

"Then there's the attacking phase. Danny Wilson's in the box, he goes to tackle, half pulls out the tackle, so he's planted his foot.

"The contact's initiated by the Dundee player. At the time, in real time, I thought it looked like a pen, but I watched it back and I go, 'there's no chance that's a pen'.

"The VAR officials then send a referee to the monitor, which tells me there's two people looking at footage with different camera angles, saying, 'you might have made a mistake here, I think you'd better go and look at the monitor'.

"He looks at the monitor and then says, no, it's a pen. I said to the referee after the game, 'you'd better hope you've got that right'.

"This can't keep happening. It can't. It's me that's affected this week, it'll be somebody else next week. Rangers, Kilmarnock, Celtic benefit, Hearts benefit, it can't keep happening.

"We're paying millions of pounds for people to make decisions using footage. They seem to still be getting it wrong.

"It's really hard sitting here as a manager, that's the frustrating aspect. In all honesty, we should be coming away from here with a point, in my opinion.

"When you're using the footage, how are we getting decisions wrong when we're actually looking at these camera angles? That's the part I don't understand. I can't get my head round it, I'm perplexed, I genuinely am perplexed at how we're getting this wrong.

"I think it comes down to the individuals who are in charge of making these decisions, I don't think that's Willie [Collum]'s fault.

"It's difficult to see if it's actually making the game better."

Image source, SNS

Dundee midfielder Yan Dhanda drops out through suspension following his red card against Motherwell.

Paul Digby (calf) remains out and Mexico Under-20 international Cesar Garza is on international duty. Charlie Reilly is back in contention after a broken collarbone.

Shane Blaney and Jeremy Bokila have returned to training and will be assessed ahead of Livi's trip to Tayside. Cammy Kerr, Cristian Montano and Aidan Denholm remain sidelined.

Image source, SNS

Mahamadou Susoho says he signed with Livingston to "show everyone" his abilities, just two years after making his Champions League debut for Manchester City.

The 20-year-old midfielder, born in Barcelona, joined City's academy in 2017 from Spanish side Espanyol.

And six years later he came off the bench to make his debut in a Champions League tie against Red Star Belgrade, helping Pep Guardiola's side to a 3–2 away win.

Ahead of the trip to Dundee on Saturday, Susoho said: "It was a dream come true, obviously playing Champions League as well, against Red Star Belgrade.

"It was a very proud moment for me, my family, and everyone that helped me growing up. It's what many players dream of so I was blessed.

"When I walked into the stadium, it was loud, it was big, the atmosphere. I've never been in anything like it before. When I got a shout to get warmed up and come on, the butterflies were in my belly, but when I came on I think I did all right.

"Now I am just building myself back up and hopefully get more chances at City or somewhere else. That's football. You never know in football, you've got to be ready for any challenge."

The Spain youth international spent last season on loan at Peterborough and made the move to Livingston on deadline day, before coming on for his debut as a substitute against Aberdeen in the goalless draw at Pittodrie on Saturday.

He added: "I had quite a few clubs interested. I got a call from my agent and had a Zoom call with the manager, and he convinced me to come up with Livingston.

"I moved to play games, and that's what I need because I had a disruptive couple of seasons with injuries.

"The manager gave me the confidence of coming here to play a lot of games. He said there's a new challenge, different intensity compared to football in League One in England. He said that I'm going to play in the number six role, which is where I've been playing in the last few years.

"I've never been afraid of challenges. I came here to show everyone I can play."

Image source, SNS

David Martindale insists there is a "lot more to come" from his side after a solid start to the season on Livingston's return to the top flight.

Livi drew 0-0 with Aberdeen last weekend and sit seventh in the Premiership with five points.

The Livi manager is hoping to take the "belief" from his first clean sheet of the campaign into Saturday's fixture against Dundee.

"We've got a lot of Premiership players here, so they've been here before, but it's the first time this group have played together in the Premiership," said Martindale.

"So I think week by week, game by game, point by point, the group should be taking a wee bit of belief from that.

"Personally, I feel there's a lot more to come from the group.

"I think the boys were fairly happy coming down the road on the bus [from Pittodrie] with a clean sheet.

"I think if it was 1-1 and you gave a goal away and it's a bad goal, it probably puts a different aspect on the game.

"We had opportunities ourselves, limited, but we had opportunities ourselves so the bus was fairly positive and coming in Monday morning, the analysis was a fairly positive meeting."

Dundee occupy second-bottom spot and are still looking for their first league win of the season, but Martindale insists the Dark Blues are still in a "transitional period" and Steven Pressley's ideas are taking effect.

"They will pose a threat, they've got better week by week and I think, the longer Steven is in the building and working with players, you can definitely see his ideas coming through," added Martindale.

"They're still sort of in a transitional phase in terms of a new manager and they've lost a lot of big players over the last 12 to 18 months, there's no getting away from that.

"They are slightly in a transitional phase, but week by week you can see them coming out of that transition, and you can identify with Steven and the Dundee team, the Dundee shape, the Dundee players and what it is they're trying to do."

Image source, SNS

John Ward and Dave Black have taken up new roles in a leadership change at Livingston.

Black, who replaced Ward as CEO in 2023, has been appointed chief operating officer where he will handle the commercial and business side of club operations.

Ward will return to the position of CEO, a role he held between 2016 and 2023 before being appointed chairperson.

In a statement, new owner and chairman Calvin Ford said: "We could not be more excited about the performance of the club on the pitch thus far, and these leadership moves will only help to enhance the social, economic and commercial viability of Livingston."

Image source, SNS

• Dundee have won the past three league meetings with Livingston – their longest ever top-flight winning run over the Lions.

• Dundee have won just one of their past 12 Scottish Premiership home games against newly-promoted opponents (D4 L7), and none of their past seven (D3 L4) since beating Rangers 2-1 in February 2017.

• Dundee remain winless in the Premiership this season (P5 D3 L2), while only Aberdeen have scored fewer goals (zero) and earned fewer points (one) than the Dark Blues (three goals, three points).

• Livingston are winless in 20 away games in the top flight (D5 L15). Only one side have gone longer without a Premiership win on the road in the 21st century, with Ross County going 25 without victory from September 2023 to December 2024 – a run the Staggies ended by beating Dundee.

• The average age of Livingston's starting XIs in the Scottish Premiership this season has been 28 years and 338 days, the oldest of any side. Dundee rank third youngest (25y 188d).

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

David Martindale has been speaking to the media before Livingston's Premiership game with Dundee this weekend.

Here are the key points:

• After being an advocate of VAR in the past, Martindale says playing without it in the Championship last season was more enjoyable.

• He understands why controversial decisions were made by referees at the weekend but says at some point in the future artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to officiate games.

• Martindale adds: "Not robots, just artificial intelligence. Cameras videoing the game. Cameras making the decisions. There's data that says by 2030 the evolution of AI is going to be much more powerful than the human race."

• Asked if managers will still be needed, Martindale says: "Hopefully not! I can go back on a building site."

• Martin doesn't "pay much attention" to the league table and was unaware a win on Saturday would take Livingston to third place.

• He says being able to hold on to key players from last season has helped the momentum continue into this campaign.

• On Dundee's early-season struggles: "Steven's [Pressley] been in a difficult environment, there's been a massive turnaround in players over the last 12-18 months and they've lost big, big players. And then they lose the manager, so you're walking into a transitional environment, but as the weeks go on, you're gaining continuity within that."

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

The boos were ringing out at the full-time whistle at Pittodrie on Saturday but it was music to my ears as we got a very decent result against Aberdeen.

The Dons have struggled so far this season but a visit north to the current Scottish Cup holders is always a tough trip.

I did fancy us to come away with something before the game, though.

We've been in decent form, with our defence in particular looking good. Given Aberdeen haven't even scored this season, I guess this had a draw written all over it.

Pre-match it was billed as the battle of the brothers. It was being set up for Tete Yengi on Kusini Yengi and Andrew Shinnie v Graeme Shinnie. Ironically, it was far from an Oasis brotherly love reunion, with a sibling each missing from the teams.

The game itself had an unenviable 'last on Sportscene' aura about it.

There was lots of huffing and puffing with no end product. Our defence was as comfortable as it's been all season, swatting away Dons attacks.

I did have a wee concern about our centre-halves in their vintage years in the Premiership but they have been fantastic this season - especially in the north east.

Second half we pushed forward more which was good to see but never found the goal that would have given us a wonderful win.

We'll just take the delightful draw for another well-won point in the bag and even more for us Livi fans to cheer this season.

Watch the highlights as Aberdeen and Livingston played out a goalless draw in the Scottish Premiership.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Livingston striker Tete Yengi has urged the Aberdeen fans to have a bit more belief in his older brother, Kusini, instead of being "always negative, negative, negative".

Australia striker Kusini has struggled to make an impact with the Dons since arriving from Portsmouth this summer and his performances have drawn criticism from some fans.

"I think it is crazy," Tete Yengi told BBC Scotland. "Clearly he has qualities, otherwise the coaching staff wouldn't have brought him here. I think they should give him a bit more time.

"It is a tough league, even for me. When I first came, it took some time to adapt. I think he needs a bit of time to adapt, but he is only going to get better.

"I just want the fans to give him, put a bit more trust in him, have a bit more belief, a bit more support, instead of always negative, negative, negative.

"As players, we need a positive boost when we are on the pitch to help us run that extra yard or do that extra bit of something. I am sure he will be good - just give him some time."

Kusini was not in the Aberdeen squad for Saturday's Scottish Premiership visit of Livingston.

It meant the brothers were unable to line up against each other in a game that ended 0-0.

"It has been a tough start, but I know my brother the best," Tete added. "He is mentally strong, so I know he will get through this tough period. I have full trust in him."

Livingston end a three-game losing streak in all competitions with a goalless draw away to Aberdeen.

Have your say here.

Read the match report.

Image source, SNS

Livingston manager David Martindale tells BBC Scotland: "I thought it was a fantastic point away from home.

"I don't think the first half we were anywhere near the levels I wanted us to be.

"Second half we were much better, posed a threat on the counter.

"Jerome didn't really have a save to make. We could have nicked it, so I'm fairly pleased with the performance.

"I thought the full group were very good. A special mention to Jerome and the back four. There was a lot to like.

"We've got good team spirit, positive momentum and I think we'll get better as the season goes on."

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin has a fully fit squad. Latvia centre-back Kristers Tobers, who has not played this season due to injury, has returned to training.

Livingston's new loan signings Junior Robinson and Mahamadou Susoho are both in contention for involvement while Macaulay Tait is available after missing out against parent club Hearts.

But Shane Blaney, Cammy Kerr, Cristian Montano and Aidan Denholm are set to remain sidelined.

Image source, SNS

Livingston midfielder Graham Carey believes the squad assembled by "animated" manager David Martindale is capable of challenging for a top-half Premiership finish this season.

After being relegated with St Johnstone last term, Carey was part of a heavy recruitment drive at Livingston over the summer.

Having gone head-to-head with Martindale's teams through the years, the 36-year-old is excited to be on the same side now.

"I've played against Davie's teams for years and I've always enjoyed watching him coach from the sideline," he said.

"He's very vocal and he's very animated, but in a good way. I think he's always managed to get the best out of the squad he has. This year, with the quality we have, if he can do that again then I think we'll be fine.

"With the squad depth we have and the quality we have, I think we've got more than enough to have a successful season, whether that be breaking into the top six or finishing as high as we possibly can, but I think we definitely have enough quality in the team to have a really successful season."

Despite Aberdeen's slow start to the season - losing all three league matches without scoring a goal - Livingston boss Martindale expects a tough test when they face Jimmy Thelin's team on Saturday.

"Aberdeen will be a different team from what they've been previously," Martindale said.

"They've really strengthened within the window and they've brought in some quality players, but we're in a different place now as we club.

"I take it one day at a time and I think everyone is capable of beating everyone in the league."