DAVIE: YES, I COULD SEE THIS GAME FAR ENOUGH
DAVID MARTINDALE admits Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Celtic is the last thing he needs when he’s obsessed with the battle to beat the drop.
But the Livingston boss, below, will give it a bash after handing his players a crash course on previous Parkhead upsets.
Martindale knows staying in the top flight is the priority – but the Cup is a chance to grab some glory.
He said: “I want to be playing league games, honestly. You keep looking at that league and six points behind (Ross County), it is annoying me! I just want to play league games. “You are going to Parkhead, it’s a wee bit of a distraction. Would I rather be playing league football? Personally I would. You have the flip side also, you go to Celtic and could get absolutely spanked, look at Dundee. “They are capable of doing it to anybody. You are going there trying to look at the positives, we’re going there with a bit of belief, your mindset is probably slightly different from a league game.”
Martindale will lean on previous trips to Parkhead having picked up three league draws there in the last five years.
He said: “We haven’t done it for a while but we have done it in the past. I’ve spoken to the players about it. I remember the 0-0 against Brendan Rodgers.
“They had Ollie Burke playing, he missed an absolute sitter and we got a 0-0. Lenny in the Covid year, when they’d come back from Dubai. Another 0-0 and I think we should have won the game.
“Then there was the draw with Ange’s side, when they got the penalty and sending-off for big Ayo Obileye, when Gio Giakoumakis missed it.
“We’ve gone to Parkhead and got results over the years. You need to be really at it and a lot to fall in your favour. You need Celtic to be a wee bit off it. But we’ve shown we can do it and there’s no reason we can’t go there and get something from the game.”
Martindale reckons Callum McGregor’s injury absence is a big boost to his side as they look for potential Parkhead weakness. He said: “Callum is an outstanding talent – the Celtic talisman. As much as I don’t like seeing players injured, I’m happy he could be missing because he is an absolutely huge player for Celtic.”