JET thanks Livingston for sparking his revival

THE coronavirus outbreak put paid to a lucrative move to China for Jay Emmanuel Thomas. Instead, he ended up at Livingston.

But the former Bristol City and QPR front man, whose two goals in the Scottish Cup fourthround defeat at Aberdeen underlined his man-of-the-match performance, is grateful to the West Lothian club for helping him rediscover his mojo as manager David Martindale revealed the talented front man will leave in the summer.

Emmanuel-Thomas twice put Livi in front only for Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn and Florian Kamberi to pull the Dons back before they won through to the quarter-finals against Dundee United this weekend with a 5-3 win in the penalty shoot-out after extra time.

Emmanuel-Thomas had signed for Thai club PTT Rayong at the start of last year and in February was ready to jet off for a club in China when the Covid pandemic hit.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Emmanuel-Thomas said. “Then, because it was an awkward situation and football stopped in March, I had to wait for the season to resume. It was knock-back after knockback but I knew I would get the opportunity at some stage and I had to be ready to take it.”

He revealed a telephone call requesting that Livingston wanted to see him in training saw him pack his bags for Scotland, signing a deal that week.

“They pay me and I am grateful for that,” he said. “It was more an aspect of wanting and needing to play football at Livingston and I am very, very thankful that Davie let me come in as, due to the Covid circumstances, I had spent a long while out of the game.

“I spent a long period at home, working out, running and trying to keep myself fit and in my best possible condition. Going to Livingston helped me come on leaps and bounds.”

The tweaks Stephen Glass made to how Aberdeen play in the post Derek McInnes era were important in their comeback and penalty shoot-out win.

The reality, however, is staring the new Dons manager in the face; that his team are still some distance from producing the kind of entertaining football he and the club’s fans desire.