LIONS RAMPANT AGAINST HEARTS
Livingston boss Gary Holt praised his side’s composure and determination after their brilliant display against Hearts on Friday.
The Lions stunned the visitors with a five-goal salvo in 14 minutes – which also included a red card for Hearts midfielder Arnaud Djoum – and the manager said he was delighted with the way his team continued to play.
He said:“It was pleasing that they kept going and kept creating chances and even when they went down to 10 men we didn’t panic.
“We didn’t just go and throw things forward, we actually played with a bit of composure and a bit of experience beyond our years.”
With it being Livi’s fifth game in just 13 days, the manager admitted he was more pleased by the mental strength the players showed as they finished off their tricky spell on a high.
He said:“We spoke about being physically in good shape but also mentally, too. If you feel tired then you’ll play tired so we needed to get over that. You’re not going to play for us if you’re physically or mentally tired before the game.
“The fact that they had the mental strength to go out and produce a performance like that was probably even more pleasing than the result.
“It’s 11 guys against 11 guys. If you go toe-to-toe with your opposite number and are prepared to say‘I’m going to out-work you, I’m going to out-fight you, I’m going to out-battle you then we’ll get results and I think we’ve had that most of this season.”
The win now sees Livi sit 19 points clear of the relegation zone, but Holt isn’t one to get carried away and says the aim, first and foremost, is to secure safety.
He commented: “We want to be mathematically safe and guaranteed 10th place. That means we’ll not have to worry about anything.
“We want to get that as soon as possible and then we can have a look where we are and see where we want to end up.
“But our aim at the club is to finish 10th and then build from there.”