We must up our strike rate
Livingston boss David Martindale has admitted he needs more from his strikers, with the Lions having scored the second fewest goals in the top flight this season.
Bruce Anderson has impressed at times since his arrival from Aberdeen and leads the way with four goals in the Premiership, but Jack Hamilton and Harrison Panayiotou have struggled to make an impact – which has led to midfielder Andrew Shinnie being deployed as a lone striker at times.
Speaking to the Courier, Martindale said:“Bruce came in to Livingston to be a No.9 and I kept Jack Hamilton and Gavin Reilly at the club. It was very evident early on that Gav needed to go elsewhere to play.
“I put a lot of faith in Bruce and Jack and I don’t think I’ve been repaid at times.
“Bruce has done well at times but I think there’s a lot more to come from him and he needs to learn how to play as a lone striker. He needs to be able to take the team up the park.
“With Jack Hamilton, how do I do that? He’s still a very young guy learning his trade and it probably needs to be done in the air and getting flick-ons.
“His link-up play has to improve because there’s a big step up from the Championship to the Premiership and he needs to be more proactive rather than reactive.
“But that’s all part of being a young player learning the game.”
Martindale added:“Andrew Shinnie gives me a little bit of everything. Arguably the two best games we’ve played this season – Celtic and Hearts at home – he’s been the No.9.
“Shinnie’s a very clever footballer. He should score against Hearts, of course he should, but he’s got the intelligence to be in that position in the first place.
“And when he drops in that allows others to press up the park so we actually have an extra body when we are attacking.
“Harry Panayiotou has needed a lot of conditioning and probably needs to go out on loan, which is something we’ll explore in January when we bring Joel Nouble back from Arbroath.
“He’s maybe got the best link-up play at the club but he’s played National League in England for two years and needs to learn and adapt to Scottish football in the Premiership.
“If you put him in the Championship, I think he performs really well, but the budget we have maybe means we’re having to get folk who aren’t ready and give them time.”