Hospitalised Holt cheers his high-flying Livvy
GARY HOLT was confined to a hospital bed as Livingston continued their sensational start to the season with a win over St Mirren.
However, assistant manager David Martindale has revealed that the Livvy boss was the first man to text him following the triumph, as he played down the severity of Holt’s condition.
The former Scotland international was admitted to hospital after suffering an injury towards the tail end of the week and remains under observation.
It is hoped Holt will return to training on Monday, where he will be greeted by a squad still riding the crest of a wave and flying high in third spot.
Alan Lithgow and Lyndon Dykes hit the net either side of the break and, although a Kyle Magennis wonder strike ensured a nervous finale, Livvy held firm to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games.
‘Gary is okay and hopefully he’ll get out of hospital on Monday,’ explained Martindale.
‘I’m told it’s nothing too serious. Hopefully that result has made him feel a bit better. The performance was great.
‘Nothing really changed today, to be honest. Me and Holty speak all the time, so we had a good idea of what the team would be.’
He added: ‘Gary has texted already.’
Livingston belied blustery conditions to grab the opening goal in 26 minutes. And its simplicity rightly infuriated opposition boss Jim Goodwin.
A fine corner kick by Aymen Souda found Lithgow unmarked and he headed beyond Vaclav Hladky from 10 yards.
The lively Souda rippled the side netting on the cusp of half-time.
St Mirren emerged after the break with the vigour of a team that had received an almighty dressing down.
Within two minutes of the restart, Jonathan Obika headed over the bar and forced Lithgow to block a goal-bound drive.
However, the hosts doubled their advantage when Chris Erskine surged to the byeline before picking out Dykes, allowing the Aussie to slot past Hladky.
Saints responded well and halved arrears in fine fashion with 26 minutes to play. Magennis received the ball on the left corner of the box, stepped inside and curled a sensational effort beyond the despairing dive of Ross Stewart.
However, that would prove a futile, if magnificent, contribution.
‘I couldn’t say we lost the game because of a lack of fight or a lack of effort,’ said Goodwin. ‘But the goals we conceded were poor.’ LIVINGSTON (4-2-3-1): Stewart; Devlin, Lithgow, Guthrie, McMillan (Savane 65); Bartley, Crawford; Souda (Stobbs 80), Lawless, Erskine (Tiffoney 74); Dykes. Subs not used: Sarkic, Pepe, Henderson. Booked: Lawless. ST MIRREN (4-4-1-1): Hladky; McGinn, Mcloughlin, MacKenzie, Waters; McAllister (Mullen 87), Foley, Flynn (Durmus 81), Magennis; Andreu (Morias 68); Obika. Subs not used: Lyness, Baird, Djorkaeff, MacPherson. Booked: McGinn, MacKenzie, McAllister. Referee: Colin Steven. Attendance: 2,346.