Martindale aiming to find instant pain relief
GUTTED David Martindale insists Livingston will have bounced back from their Betfred Cup disappointment by lunchtime today.
The Lions boss will have his players in this morning to lick their wounds.
Martindale is adamant the experience at the national stadium will stand them in good stead for the future.
He said: “I’ll not let it affect the season and I will not let those boys dwell on this. I’m not going to dwell on it.
“When you lose a cup final you are going to be bitterly disappointed but you have to be positive in defeat and all credit goes to St Johnstone.
“They defended their box far better than we defended our box at times.
“I am disappointed, but I’m not going to let it affect me.
“You can’t change the past, it’s gone. I will reflect and see what I could have done better and we will regroup on Monday.
“Fair play to St Johnstone, I think you have to give them plaudits and they have to take a massive amount of credit for the way they managed the game.
‘I don’t think there is anything to take from it. I don’t think anybody remembers who loses cup finals, so I am not going to dwell on it too much.”
Martindale insists there was little to split the sides other than a moment of opportunism when Shaun Rooney nodded home after losing Jon Guthrie.
He said: “Big Guthrie was on him. I said to him, ‘big man get your head up, how many games have your goals won for us?’
“There was a chance for Josh Mullin. Bar that I can’t really remember us putting Zander Clark under too much pressure.
“I stopped them using the diagonal from Jamie McCart to Shaun with Marvin Bartley playing on him, but when it comes to a set play we’ve got to defend our box better.”
SHAUN ROONEY hailed his time at Queen’s Park after his goal gave Saints a first-ever League Cup. The 24-year-old is the first former Spider to have a winner’s medal since Bobby Clark with Aberdeen in 1977. He said: “Playing there was great. I made the team of the year, it’s one of the best times I’ve had.”