Shamal is a keeper but we won’t be his last club
Livi boss tips him for top and compares him to Sarkic
David Martindale has tipped goalkeeper Shamal George for a big money move after insisting the best is yet to come.
The 25-year-old stopper pulled off two smart saves from Garang Kuol during Livi’s goalless draw with Hearts on Sunday and the former Colchester United keeper earned comparisons with ex-Lions loanee Matija Sarkic from the gaffer.
Sarkic impressed at the Tony Macaroni Arena three years ago during a loan spell from Aston Villa – earning a maiden international call-up for Montenegro during his time in West Lothian.
The 25-year-old is currently on loan at Championship side Stoke City, having featured three times for Premiership team Wolverhampton Wanderers this term.
Martindale said: “I think there’s a lot more to come from Shamal.
“This will not be his last club. He’ll go on to a bigger club than Livingston.
“We got him in a good place and then he hurt his thigh. Fair play to him because he played through three or four games to his detriment that he shouldn’t have played in but we thought we could get him to the winter break.
“He’s a top keeper – one of the best I’ve had at this club – and I think he will go on to have a great career.”
He added: “He reminds me of Matija. He’s very athletic, a great size, he’s good with the ball at his feet, he’s agile, he’s quick across the ground. For me he’s got everything.”
George’s clean sheet against the Jambos was his sixth in 17 league games since becoming the club’s second-highest ever transfer in the summer.
And Martindale insisted the fact that his side has been able to take points in all three contests with the Edinburgh side this campaign is testament to the club’s rise.
He said: “That’s us taken five points from Hearts in three games. I think for a club of our size, that’s testament to how far we’ve come as a football club.
“Hearts, for me, are the third best team in the country.
“They have battered a few teams this year and scored plenty of goals.
“There wasn’t a lot in the game. Both managers are probably disappointed not to win but not hugely disappointed that they have come away with a clean sheet and a point.
“We are in a good place collectively and I think that we’ve added a bit more consistency to our game than last year.”