Wee Tiffs can fill Lyndon’s big boots
It would be difficult to confuse Lyndon Dykes and Scott Tiffoney with each other.
One’s tall, talkative and tattooed. The other one’s small, shy and speedy.
But Livingston skipper Marvin Bartley believes the 22-year-old former Greenock Morton man could be the one to fill the void left by last season’s top scorer.
Dykes was a revelation during his stint in West Lothian – netting 14 goals in 36 appearances – and became the club’s record sale when he joined English Championship side Queens Park Rangers earlier this season.
Tiffoney, though, is coming off his best display in a Livi jersey after being the catalyst in their victory over St Johnstone.
A cool finish was followed moments later with a calm pass into the path of Alan Forrest to curl home Livi’s second in their win.
He’s had to bide his time – Saturday being his fourth start since joining the club in August 2018 – but he could be ready for more action according to his captain. Bartley said: “Scott Tiffoney got what he deserved in the game.
“He’s been very, very patient since I’ve been at the club and he’s always worked hard in training.
“You can see in games now that he’s improving as a player so for him to get a goal was brilliant.
“We’ve said to Tiffs that you have to use your body to hold the ball up. At times we’re going to need him to do that.
“Don’t let players go through you, and if they do then it needs to be a foul. He’s learning all the time.
“He gives us great pace going in behind and gives us something a bit different to Dyksey who was brilliant in the air and chased every ball. Tiff’s now doing the same.”
He added: “I said to him at half-time, if you blow up after 60 minutes, we don’t care. We’ve got subs so run yourself into the ground, give us everything – and he did that.
“Now it’s about him staying at that level because he’ll be the next one, people will start looking at him thinking ‘wow, he can do it’.
“But he’s still a young boy and needs to keep that level every single game.”
He’s been very, very patient since I’ve been at the club and he’s always worked hard in training