Kenny can’t wait to get cracking
First game fever for boss
Livingston boss Kenny Miller says he’s looking forward to making his managerial debut as the Lions visit Airdrieonians in the League Cup on Saturday.
The 38-year-old player-manager was appointed to the role two weeks ago and will make his bow at the Penny Cars Stadium – and despite facing League One opposition, he’s under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task at hand. The former Scotland international said: “It will be a very good test for us and the first competitive game of a season is always tough. “We need to approach the game properly if we are to get the win, but I’ve no concerns on that front because I know that this group of guys are a hardworking bunch and determined to get the best out of themselves every week. “We’re all really looking forward to getting the chance to put things into practice that we’ve worked on in training and talked about. “This team have built up a winning mentality with the success they’ve had over the last couple of years and we obviously want to take that belief into the League Cup and keep it going.” While admitting that survival in the Premiership is the key this season, Miller says the club are focused on ensuring a successful Betfred Cup campaign, and ruled out making unnecessary changes during the four games, which includes a return trip to Airdrie on Tuesday night to face Premiership rivals Hamilton Academical.
He said: “They are competitive games and everybody at this club is wanting to win them all, that’s the aim.
“It’s still early days in terms of the season and in maybe getting certain ideas across, so perhaps if the time is right in games then we can look at different ideas and options.
“But we want to win the group and it’s more important that we do that.”
He added: “I’d rather have this sort of set-up with the League Cup beforehand where you are playing four competitive games and getting into the swing of things before the league begins.
“I think it’s a format that really helps us out and having another Premiership team in the group will be a good test.”
Keaghan Jacobs is an injury doubt for the clash after only returning to training earlier this week, while Raffaele de Vita is the club’s only long- term absentee as he continues his recovery from knee ligament damage sustained in last season’s Championship play-off clash against Dundee United.