Hopkin hoping his ‘ patched- up’ side can get over the line at Firhill
Livingston manager David Hopkin hopes his players are fit enough for one last push on Sunday as they bid to see off Partick Thistle and reach the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Hop kin’ s side edged last night’s play- off final first leg against the Jags 2- 1 thanks to goals fromKeagh an Jacobs and Scott Pittman.
The tie now moves from West Lothian to Mary hill in Glasgow on Sunday afternoon and Hopkin knows his players must make the most of their recovery period in the next couple of days as they aim to end a marathon season on an unbelievable high.
“It’s only half- time. I just wish t he games were played over one leg,” said the Livi boss.
“Our squad’ s down to the bare bones and the players gave me everything.
“Tonight, to win 2- 1 at home, it’s great to finish the season at home with a win. I thought they were fantastic. We score a fantastic equaliser. At halftime, I keep saying, if it had finished at 1-1, I’ d have been delighted. Josh Mullin’s gone and put a fantastic ball in and then Scott Pittman, what a finish it is to go near post.
“The biggest thing about us now is recovery. We’ve only got 15 fit players now. It’s about patching players up. We know it’s going to be a hard shift on Sunday. I’m so proud of every player. We just keep going and we just keep defying the odds.”
Par tick manager Alan Archibald, who had seen his side take the lead through talisman Kris Doolan, admitted his players had performed way below their best.
“I didn’t think we played at all ,” he explained .“We got drawn into playing long, aimless balls up front to our two strikers, which is something we’ve not done when we’ve played that kind of system and that shape recently so that was disappointing.”
On the return leg, he added: “We’re fighting for our lives.”