Holt: We were unlucky but I’d rather we were rubbish and won

Gary Holt admits his Livingston side were taught another painful lesson after being floored by a late sucker punch.

The Lions boss now hopes they have learned a harsh lesson from their defeat to Motherwell because he insists points are the priority after ending up with nothing but empty plaudits.

He said: “It’s a kick in the teeth and it’s something we’ve spoken about. I can’t continue to come in after games and say ‘unlucky’.

“For a side which was down to the bare bones, to a man we were excellent at times.

“I told them not to panic when Motherwell had possession as we’d get it back and frustrate them.

“When we had it back we had to hit them and the boys did that at times. But we need to be more professional.

“We have to be savvy to see games out and we didn’t do that.

“At the end of the day we would have taken a point and the disappointing thing is our keeper didn’t have much to do. Their goalie had more saves to make and we still lost.

“But we can’t keep praising a defeat. To a man there was effort and desire and I can’t fault them but I would rather tell them we were garbage and rubbish but won the game.

“We need to learn that quickly, it’s about fine lines and we should have scored with a chance at the end. It’s about taking opportunities when they come as unlucky doesn’t keep you in this league and doesn’t get you anything.

“Being ultra professional does. “We are still new at this level and we need to do the nitty gritty. There will be games where we play well and get nothing.”