WE’LL BE ON TOP FOR THE SPIDERS
Livi captain on clash with Queen’s Park
Livingston captain Sean Crighton insists his team will have to be at their best to get the better of former boss Gus MacPherson’s Queen’s Park at on Saturday.
The big defender worked under MacPherson during his time at St Mirren and he’s in no doubt that he’ll have the amateur outfit ready for the visit of the high-flying Lions.
The 26- year- old, who was a youth team player at the Buddies, commented: “Queen’s Park will be a very tough game. They’ll be organised and difficult to break down.
“I know Gus MacPherson well as he was my coach at St Mirren and he’ll have them well prepared and very fit. It’s a big pitch at Hampden so their fitness will be right up there.
“I’m expecting a really tough game. We just need to worry about ourselves and stick to our plan and hopefully that will be enough on the day to get the three points.”
But he insists they can only worry about themselves as they look to continue their impressive start to the League One campaign.
He said: “Confidence is very high in the camp now but we want to keep this run going and keep winning games.
“We’ve shown that we can play nice football and win games, but against Airdrie we showed the other side too and that is what’s needed.
“We’ve set a really high standard at this club, from the coaches down to all the players and we weren’t going to let that dip on Saturday.
“We want to make sure that the standards stay at that level, even in horrible conditions like it was against Stenhousemuir at the weekend.”
As for the 4-1 win against the Warriors last week, Crighton found himself in the unfamiliar position of right-wing for the opening goal as Danny Mullen prodded home his pinpoint cross.
But, while he says chipping in at one end is great, he’s more focused on keeping things tight at the other end.
He commented: “Sometimes you just find yourself in that kind of position. I had taken the gamble to stay up and it paid off this time.
“Obviously I want to help the team win and I’m more than happy to chip in with goals and assists, but I was absolutely raging that we never got a clean sheet.
“We want to be keeping clean sheets but the boys at the top end of the park are sticking the ball away and ultimately as long as we keep scoring more than we are conceding, that’s what is most important and hopefully that’s what we can do against Queen’s Park.”
Lions head coach David Hopkin echoed his captain’s sentiments and is preparing for a tough game at the National Stadium.
He said: “It will be a difficult game. They’ve had a decent start to the season and we expect a tough challenge against a well organised team.
“We have to make sure we keep playing the way we have been and get everyone fully prepared and focused for the game.”
For a full report on Livingston’s victory over Stenhousemuir, turn to pages 54-55.