Livingston

Can Livingston maintain momentum from last weekend's victory over Ross County when they travel to Fir Park on Saturday?

Put yourself in David Martindale's shoes and pick your starting line-up here.

It's been a disappointing season for David Martindale's side, whose time in the top flight is hanging by a thread.

But has anyone impressed you in a Livi shirt this term?

Give us your thoughts here.

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Twenty-six decisions since the start of the Premiership season have been deemed incorrect by the Scottish FA's VAR independent review panel.

The tally, based on incidents requested by the panel or submitted for consideration, is a rise of 10 since February's last meeting of the group.

Not among the incidents included was one where Hibernian claimed the Scottish FA agreed an error had been made.

The governing body later disputed that assertion, made after Hibs were not awarded a penalty after Aberdeen's Nicky Devlin handled in February's 2-2 draw.

The 10 incorrect decisions shared with Premiership clubs on Wednesday were:

Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen (6/02/24): VAR intervention was correct, but final outcome should have been yellow card to Rangers' Dujon Sterling. Referee retained his on-field decision of a red card.

St Mirren 2-0 Dundee (7/02/24): VAR intervention was correct, but final outcome should have been yellow card to St Mirren's James Bolton. Referee retained his on-field decision of a red card.

Ross County 1-1 St Mirren (27/2/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Final outcome should have been penalty awarded against Ross County for handball.

Hearts 1-1 Hibernian (28/2/24): VAR intervention correct, but penalty decision, which led to Hearts' equaliser, should have been overturned - no foul and no penalty should have been awarded.

Kilmarnock 1-2 Rangers (28/2/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Final outcome should have been penalty decision, which led to Kilmarnock opening the scoring, overturned - no handball offense against Rangers.

Hearts 2-0 Celtic (3/3/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Penalty decision should have been overturned - no foul and no penalty should have been awarded to Celtic.

Hearts 2-0 Celtic (3/3/24): On-field decision correct, no penalty to Hearts. Handball should not have been awarded for spot-kick that led to opening goal.

Motherwell 0-1 Aberdeen (16/04/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Penalty to Motherwell should have been awarded for handball.

Hibernian 1-2 St Johnstone (6/4/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Penalty should have been awarded to Hibs for foul by St Johnstone goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.

St Mirren 1-2 Hearts (6/4/24): VAR intervention correct, but penalty should have been awarded to St Mirren for a foul on Conor McMenamin by Aidan Denholm.

Who saw this win coming? Not me.

I was prepared for the final curtain to be closed on our Premiership survival last Saturday so the three points against Ross County were a bit surprising to say the least.

I reckon other Livi fans thought the drop was inevitable as well as it was very subdued walking to the game and mingling with other supporters.

It was the same in the stadium. To be fair it wasn’t long before we had something to cheer as Livi fired themselves into the game quickly.

There was shades of Livi of old with loads of tenacity, tackling, running and we played some really good football too. Every single player from Shamal George to wee Bruce Anderson did their jobs effectively with loads of effort.

Jamie Brandon is revelling in his centre midfield role, Anderson will get the plaudits for the excellently-taken goal but I was most pleased for Mikey Devlin. We got to see the player we thought we were getting this season. He defended well and played the captain's role cajoling the players around him excellently.

Some optimistic Livi are reaching for the calculators to work out if we can get to safety. It is possible, its just not probable. We need to keep this performance level up and other results to go our way. We’ve left it too late however.

Most Livi fans accepted long ago we’re going down so anything like this again is a real bonus and means we can actually enjoy our football team again.

It's not often Livingston players have been named in my team of the week this term.

But after keeping their faint survival hopes alive with victory over Ross County on Saturday, the West Lothian side deserve recognition.

Mikey Devlin was a colossus at the back as Livi kept their second clean sheet in three games, while Sean Kelly was influential in midfield and kept his cool to fire home from the spot.

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Bruce Anderson says Livingston have been unlucky this season but insists they will keep fighting as relegation looms.

The striker, who is set to exit this summer, was on the scoresheet in Saturday's 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Ross County that kept Livi's slender survival hopes alive.

“Its been a difficult season and a lot has gone on," Anderson said.

"Luck has been a big part and there have been a lot of games when we haven’t had any luck. We have four games left to give it a go and try and enjoy it.

“I think there has always got to be [belief] until you are mathematically down. The manager has driven that into us that we have to keep going until the last day.

"We just want to win as many games as possible and see where that takes us."

Watch all the action from West Lothian as Livingston bagged their first win since February. (Available to UK users only).

We asked for your thoughts after Livingston's 2-0 victory over Ross County, here's a taste of what you had to say.

Del: Great performance.

Jennifer: Best display this season, everyone contributed, everyone was solid. We actually came out the stadium feeling proud of them.

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• Bruce Anderson has scored six goals this season (one in this game), more than any other Livingston player in the Scottish Premiership.

• Ross County have failed to score in 17 of their 34 games, no team has failed to do so more often in the Premiership this season.

• Livingston have beaten Ross County for the first time in the Premiership since 18 March 2023, a run of four games without a win.

Livingston manager David Martindale: "To a man, the players that started the game, the players that went on the park did themselves proud. The back four defended the box incredibly well. That was probably the difference in the game.

"As long as I'm at this club, we'll never not fight. We'll always fight. I know the probability of staying in the Premiership is very slim but it's not going to change by motivation, my passion, my emotions coming into work on Monday morning. I'm coming into work on Monday trying to win that game on Saturday and then we'll see where it takes us."

Were you at Livingston's 2-0 in over Ross County or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Livingston's top-flight status remains under severe threat but this performance was much more reminiscent of the side that was promoted in 2018 and proceeded to hold their own under Gary Holt and Martindale.

Their defence was resolute, their forwards a nuisance to the opposition, and their overall battling qualities ensured just a fourth league victory of the campaign.

In contrast, County looked very unlike the team that beat Rangers for the first time in their history just 13 days previously. Gone was the attacking intent and determination that served them so well that day.

The silver lining for interim boss Don Cowie is that St Johnstone, the most likely rival in the race to avoid the relegation play-off place, also lost.

Livingston goalkeeper Shamal George made good saves at key stages to secure a clean sheet.

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Just one change for Livingston from the team that lost 4-2 at Hearts two weeks ago. Bruce Anderson replaces the injured Tete Yengi in attack.

Ross County are unchanged from the side that defeated Rangers 3-2 in Dingwall 13 days ago.

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Livingston: George, Brandon, Devlin, Nottingham, Obileye, Sean Kelly, Holt, Stephen Kelly, Pittman, MacKay, Anderson.

Substitutes: Hamilton, Carson, Bradley, Sangare, Guthrie, Ledingham, Sharp.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall, Baldwin, Leak, Efete, Loturi, Harmon, King, Sims, Dhanda, Murray.

Substitutes: Ross, Brown, Henderson, Khela, Jenks, White, Brophy, Ayina, Reid.

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Tete Yengi is suspended for Livingston while Steven Bradley, Shaun Donnellan, Kurtis Guthrie, Cristian Montano, Joel Nouble, James Penrice and Andrew Shinnie are injured.

Josh Reid is in contention to return for Ross County but the Staggies will be without Max Sheaf for the rest of the season while Scott Allardice, Ross Callachan, Will Nightingale and Dylan Smith remain unavailable.

Like the Old Firm's inevitable dominance at the top and Hearts' grip on third place, Livingston have long seemed destined for the drop.

Time will finally run out for David Martindale's side on Saturday if they fall to a fourth consecutive home defeat.

As the visitors are second-bottom Ross County, who have not won away from home in 15 games since September, a win would reduce the gap to nine points.

However, even that would seem an insurmountable mountain to climb in the final four games considering Livingston have not won in eight outings, losing six of them, while County have only lost three of their latest eight.

If it was anyone else but Martindale, there would be major question marks about the manager's future.

However, there have been no hints that Livingston's new owners are contemplating an end to the 49-year-old's 10-year association with the club, or his near four years in charge of the first team.

Martindale, who had long warned that the West Lothian club's ability to punch above their financial weight had a shelf life, revealed this week he had given his players a mental health break from the "psychological" strain of battling relegation.

It no doubt also gave him time to ponder what he views as a "reset" and "major overhaul" of his squad regardless of which division they find themselves in next season.

With 14 or 15 players destined to exit in the summer, Martindale will already be planning for life without them - and in the Championship for the first time in six years.

Read all the weekend's Premiership picks

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Michael Nottingham plans on staying at Livingston next season regardless of which division the club are playing in.

David Martindale's side will be relegated to the Championship on Saturday if they fail to beat Ross County at home.

"I expect to be here next season," said 35-year-old defender Nottingham.

"In my contract I can stay up here and I really enjoy it up here. I'm definitely willing."

Asked if he would anticipate being at the club beyond the summer even if they are relegated, he added: "100%."

Nottingham says there's a sense of freedom in knowing Livingston must win at the weekend to keep their "very slim" survival hopes alive.

"It's been a grind. It's gradually been getting worse over the season. Things just really haven't gone our way," he said.

"We know it's a massive game and the boys want to give it absolutely everything to make sure we get the win.

"The chances of us staying in the league for next season are very slim. Nevertheless, there's still a small chance and you just have to believe you can win the next game and see where it takes us.

"We've got to get the business done this weekend otherwise it's completely over. In that sense it does take the pressure off. We know exactly what we need to do."

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• Livingston have only lost one of their seven Scottish Premiership home games against Ross County (W4 D2), going down 1-0 in October 2022.

• After their 3-2 victory in February, Ross County could win successive top-flight meetings with Livingston for the first time, with this the two sides’ 17th such clash.

• Should Livingston lose, their relegation from the Scottish Premiership will be confirmed; it would be the first time they have been relegated from the top flight since 2005-06.

• Ross County are winless in 15 away league games (D5 L10), losing their last six in a row; they have never previously lost seven in succession on the road in the top flight.

• Only Celtic’s Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi (six) have combined for more goals than Ross County team-mates Simon Murray and Eamonn Brophy (four) in the Scottish Premiership this season, with Murray assisting Brophy twice in the 3-2 win over Livingston in February. Murray and Yhan Dhanda have also combined for four league goals this term.