Devlin predicts dull dress-rehearsal for final

NICKY Devlin’s assessment of what might happen when he and his Livingston team-mates play host to St Johnstone on Saturday focuses on what he believes could be a dull preamble to their up-coming clash in the Betfred Cup final at the end of the month.

“It’s got 0-0 written all over it,” he insists. But Livi are nothing if not confident having gone a remarkable 14 games without defeat under David Martindale, underlined in their 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Tuesday night that their excellent run is no fluke.

Devlin headed home their second goal after Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis had fumbled

Julien Serrano’s cross into his own net and now looks to a potential outcome – winning a trophy and pressing for a place in European football next season – that would have been unimaginable when the current campaign kicked-off.

As for this weekend’s fixture against the Perth Saints, he said: “We know St Johnstone’s strengths and they’ve added a few in the window which will strengthen them even more.

“Saturday will be a different game to the cup final. I’m sure teams will change because we’ve still got a few games before the cup final. We’re looking forward to it, we’re on a good run and it’s another game we want to go on and win. But it’s maybe a chance for both teams to put a marker down and have that psychological edge, which I’m sure both managers will want going into the game.

“We’re obviously on a good run and if we can continue that then we’ll ask questions of the teams above us. As the manager has said, we want to secure top six. If we keep picking points up like we did at Aberdeen away from home, it will be hard for teams to catch us.”

It’s the kind of talk we may not have heard from a Livingston player prior to Martindale’s elevation to the manager’s job. Confidence, however, is meaningful in football.

“He keeps us on our toes,” Devlin said of Martindale. “He just demands from you. He’s got high, high standards and he demands that we the same every week.”

For Aberdeen, these are troubled times as they eye runners-up spot in the Premiership, hoping they can pick themselves up by beating rivals Hibs at Easter Road at the weekend.

Lewis Ferguson, the Dons midfielder, reckons the loss to Livingston makes the fixture in Leith all the more important.

“It was always going to be a big game whether we won against Livingston or not,” he said. “But the fact we lost on Tuesday means it becomes bigger. It’s a must-win now, for me anyway. I think we’ve got to go and turn Hibs over because it’s a battle between us and they’re the team we need to go and beat.” produce