Holt: players need to fight for a place

Livingston boss Gary Holt has called on his players to make his job easy – by making it impossible for him to drop anyone.

The former Scotland midfielder is aiming to record back-to-back victories in the league for the first time this season as they host Hamilton Academical on Saturday.

And while he admits there are a few fitness concerns within the squad he says that it simply presents an opportunity for someone to stake their claim for a starting role if they perform well against the Accies.

He said:“We’ve got a few bumps and sore muscles but that’s part and parcel of football. There’s still players maybe not quite up to speed with the intensity levels that we need and then they react differently to aches and pains because of that.

“How they recover from that is important and the big question because it’s all different this season. We haven’t had the usual preparation and pre-season of normal years where you get the chance and time for the muscle memory to set, for the body to know what it’s doing.

“We’ve got a few who are concerns for Saturday but it’s a squad game and we’ve got plenty of boys who are hungry to play.”

He added:“We’ve seen in the last month that we’ve very rarely had the same team and nobody has let themselves down.

“The first month was always going to be very difficult and we expected to have a few more wee niggles than usual and that’s how it’s been.

“That gives an opportunity to people to get their chance in the team and then it’s up to them to keep their place.

“Since I’ve come into the club it’s been the same. If you do your job to the best of your ability then nine times out of 10 you’ll stay in the team. It’s as simple as that. I very rarely change a team that’s winning.

“It’s very difficult to get into our team because there’s such good competition for places, but once you’ve got that starting jersey it’s up to the player to not make it easy for me to then take it off them and give it to someone else.”