Hitkid Peters signs on for Livi campaign
Goals for Forfar catch eye of Lions boss Hopkin
Livingston have added to their the strike force with the arrival of ex- Forfar Athletic hitkid Josh Peters.
The 20-year-old made the headlines a couple of seasons ago after making the move to Hibernian from the Highland League.
While that move didn’t work out, the striker netted 17 times for Athletic last term as he helped them to promotion from League Two.
Peters becomes the third new arrival at the club during the summer alongside East Fife duo Scott Robinson and Ross Brown.
With the departure of Liam Buchanan, last season’s top scorer at the Tony Macaroni Arena, Livi’s head coach David Hopkin is hoping the youngster can settle into life in the Championship and find the net in the second tier.
He said: “I’ve been watching Josh for some time. He has a nose for goal and has already proved his worth at Forfar.
“Josh has done extremely well since his humble beginnings in the Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare League, then progressed further on stepping up to the Highland League with Strathspey Thistle.
“His natural ability has obviously attracted SPFL interest from there.”
He added: “He’s going to be a real addition to our squad and I’m hopeful he’ll be fully Championship ready after acclimatising to the step-up from the lower leagues.”
But, while the boss admitted he was delighted with his latest acquisition, he confirmed that they remain in the market for a striker as he aims to add to his squad before their first competitive fixture on July 15.
He said: “We’re in talks with a few people just now and we’ll see what comes of that.
“The lads are all back in training on Monday as well and there’s a few trialists that will be coming in for me to have a look at.
“We’ve kept a core of the group on from last season and did most of our business early but there’s still some pieces that need to be added.”
Livingston’s friendlies include home games against Motherwell on July 4 and Sunderland on July 12 and Hopkin admits, as with last season, the opponents were carefully picked to ensure his players were ready for the big kick-off.
He said: “It’s important that we challenge ourselves in pre-season and the games we’ve scheduled will certainly do that.
“We also have a free weekend on July 29 after our League Cup games and we’ll look to get something sorted for that before we get started with the league.”