Dykes not for sale as Livvy hold Belgians
LIVINGSTON manager Gary Holt insists any bids for Lyndon Dykes this month will not be entertained — and admits the striker still needs to serve his footballing apprenticeship at the Lions.
The Australian, who scored in Livvy’s draw with Belgian giants Anderlecht in yesterday’s friendly in La Manga, has flourished in his first season in the Premiership so far, scoring 10 goals in 22 appearances — including an effort in last October’s memorable 2-0 win over Celtic.
That form has led to suggestions that the Queensland-born marksman could earn a call-up for the Socceroos or adopted homeland Scotland.
Holt, whose side return to action in next Saturday’s Scottish Cup visit of Raith Rovers, admits there have been no enquirers about the 24-year-old so far and hopes it remains that way.
Holt said: ‘We’ve not had a thing; not a call, not a text, not an email, not a tweet or an Insta.
‘We’ve had nothing and it wouldn’t be entertained.
‘We know where we’re at, we know what we want to achieve.
‘He knows where we are and that’s why we gave him a new contract recently.
‘We just want him to keep his feet on the ground and keep working hard — and, as we’ve seen, he’s a likeable big guy.
‘In the future, will it happen? Probably, if he keeps doing what he’s doing and banging in the goals.
‘International recognition is probably his next carrot, can he achieve that? And then seeing where it takes him.’
Holt was delighted with his team’s performance in the Spanish sunshine after watching them go toe-to-toe with Anderlecht.
Dykes gave the Lions a 51st-minute lead in their second and final game of their week-long winter training camp.
The West Lothian outfit, however, were forced to settle for a draw after Luka Adzic levelled for Vincent Kompany’s team five minutes later.
Holt, who handed forward Rodrigo Martins and goalkeeper Brian Schwake second-half outings as trialists, added: ‘It was a good contest with two good teams at it and I thought the boys were excellent. I thought we had the better chances in the game.
‘Anderlecht are a good side with the talent they have but we more than matched them.
‘The trip has been good, it’s been like a mini pre-season but you don’t want to go too far overboard.’
Anderlecht player-manager Kompany omitted himself from the starting line-up, while the Belgians were also without the injured Samir Nasir.
However, on paper Kompany still had nearly £40million worth of talent on the pitch after naming a near full-strength team.
Livingston grew into the game and Dykes opened the scoring early in the second half. He charged down defender Marco Kana’s attempted clearance and raced towards goal before slotting past Thomas Didillon.
But Livingston were caught out by a lightning break from the Belgians that saw Alexis Saelemaekers set up Adzic for an easy tap-in five minutes later.
Cova da Piedade forward
Martins could have won it for Livingston but he could not convert Craig Sibbald’s pass from close range.