Livingston

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Livingston manager David Martindale says he doesn't know if his players have what it takes to survive in the Scottish Premiership after Tuesday night's 3-1 defeat to Dundee United.

Promoted Livi remain rock bottom of the Scottish Premiership with just one win in 19 games so far this term.

They travel to face league leaders Hearts on Sunday as pressure continues to mount but Martindale is starting to question the belief in his squad.

"There's going to have to be change," the Livi boss said.

"It's either me or the players, simple. Tuesday was the first time I seriously questioned the group of players. Everybody, including myself.

"That looked like a team that accepted being in a relegation [fight], or going to get relegated. I'm not accepting it, staff are not accepting it.

"That was the worst start we have had in the league this year, the worst performance at home. Second [best] all over the park. Bullied at the back, bullied up front, bullied in midfield.

"I've not got all the answers but you have got to question the mentality within the changing room.

"Once you cross over that white line, you have got to have the passion, that aggression to go and win a game of football. I don't think it was there.

"You've got to run, you've got tackle, you've got to have energy and desire, and I thought there were a lot of players on the park that lacked that."

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Hearts could hand new Dutch right-back Jordi Altena his debut. Pierre Landry Kabore is still on international duty and Calem Nieuwenhof, Ageu, Finlay Pollock (all hamstring) and Sander Kartum (hip) are all sidelined.

Livingston could include new signings Emmanuel Danso and Joshua Zimmerman.

They remain without Cammy Kerr (groin), Aidan Denholm, Shane Blaney (both hamstring) and Adam Montgomery (calf).

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• Heart of Midlothian have won each of their past four league games against Livingston; only from January 2005 to March 2006 have Hearts ever won five in a row against the Lions in the top flight.

• Livingston are winless in their past 14 top-flight away games at Hearts (D6 L8) since a 3-2 victory in May 2002.

• Hearts have won their first January game in each of the past four years in the Scottish Premiership, keeping a clean sheet in three of those victories.

• Hearts have won all three of their league games against Livingston (one) and Falkirk (two) so far this season, but haven't won four successive top-flight matches against newly-promoted opponents since November 2000.

• Livingston have conceded the most goals (39), have the highest xG against (36.8) and have the fewest clean sheets (one) of any side in the Scottish Premiership this season.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Livingston's current situation is like a plane trying to take off but it's fast running out of runway.

The United game was way off where we have been. Everything at the start of the game felt flat. The crowd, the stadium the players and even the tunes before the game. It quickly went downhill once the game started.

Our passing was poor, the players ran but never seemed to win any footraces and were second best to everything. We were bullied in defence and midfield with our attackers starved of any sniff of a chance all through the game. Rotten night, totally reminiscent of the types of performances in the relegation season not too long ago.

Will we go down again? Quite possibly.

It's a bottom of the barrel shoot-out between us and Killie it seems. We play them in a couple of weeks and it's no understatement to say we need the real Livi team to turn up. There is lots of points to be played for but this Killie game is huge, probably season defining.

As the year ends in an abject display from Livi it is fair to look at the calendar year and appreciate the clubs' achievements. We won the play-off final and we won the SPFL Trust Trophy. Personally, I've enjoyed the games again, even the defeats (recent Dundee United aside – that was an awful night) haven't been too bad. Although the end of 2025 is a little sour there is plenty Livi fans have enjoyed this year.

I think David Martindale has earned the chance to turn this season around, I also think fans are too quick to call for people to go in general and patience is a rare commodity in football these days.

Martindale deserves the chance save the season however his January signings are incredibly important. They will have to hit the ground running and then some.

That said if things don't improve, and quickly, I think Davie will have to take stock of things. I genuinely hope for good performances and, more importantly, points in January so our season can finally take off.

We asked for your views after Livingston's winless run was extended by a 3-1 home defeat to Dundee United.

Here's what some of you said:

Matt: At no other club would a run this poor not result in a managerial change. If the new owner is serious about wanting to see his club thrive, there simply has to be a change of leadership, tactics and team selection ahead of the transfer window. David Martindale may not have lost the dressing room yet, but he certainly, and finally, has lost the fan base.

Derek: Having supported Martindale and praised him on an excellent job I just feel now he should do the honourable thing and resign. There's nothing there to prove that this team can avoid the drop - it needs fresh ideas in the club before it's too late.

Malky: Freezing cold night with a performance to match. Sorry to say it, but Livi are now well overdue a fresh approach at the helm.

Calum: Oh my goodness. First of all - that referee was absolutely awful. But even that didn't make the slightest difference - I've watched many games of football and I'm quite an enthusiastic person but I've never felt as empty as on Tuesday night. So many players giving up, and as much as I love Davie for what he's done with the club he must go - team selection every week is so poor. It's not all him though, but if it stays like this we're going down with a whimper. Again.

Brian: I was at the game and it's obvious to anyone that Livi are a team with an ageing spine and lack creativity in the middle of the park. It will take a miracle for Livi to stay up this season based on this performance.

Joshua: I just can't accept the fact we've lost 17 league games and Davie hasn't gone yet. I just don't understand why nothing has been said. It just can't keep going because I'm thinking right now we could be relegated well before the split. Maybe we are trying to equal Derby County's record for worst season for a club or something like that. Something needs to change now or we're in some serious trouble.

Malcolm: That was awful. I've never left a match before the whistle but I came close. Half way through it looked 80 per cent of the team had given up. There's only so much the back line and keeper can do. To turn this around we need more goals. The manager and backroom need to get this sorted, or fans will turn away.

Watch the pick of the action as Dundee United return to the Scottish Premiership top six with a 3-1 win at bottom club Livingston. (Available to UK users only)

Livingston remain four points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table after their 3-1 defeat at home to Dundee United.

Although they have not dropped further behind Kilmarnock, David Martindale's side are now further off third bottom and safety from relegation.

Read the full match report.

Give us your thoughts.

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Livingston manager David Martindale was more disappointed with the 3-1 defeat at home to Dundee United than any game this season.

"I don't think we started the game well and lost a really bad first goal," he tells BBC Scotland.

"That's possibly our worst performance of the season. It's definitely our worst home performance.

"We've been fairly competitive at home. Tonight we weren't.

"The first goal went in and then we just felt sorry for ourselves and there was just an acceptance.

"I feel we were lucky to go in at half time 1-0 down and honestly it could have been more.

"We had a couple of chances, but they were half chances and there weren't any great passages of play. We were really disjointed all over the park.

"The manner of the goals we conceded were very much avoidable and that's the disappointing aspect of that.

"You need to give yourself a foothold in the game if you want to win the game and we never done that."

Asked what he can do to lift his players before facing Hearts at the weekend, Martindale added: "We are in tomorrow and will go over it.

"The more games you are on this horrendous run, performances have probably got us through that.

"There's been a lot to be pleased about in certain aspects of thoe games but tonight there was a lot missing from the game.

"That was the first time when I can actually question that group of players."

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

What a wild game this was. We had four goals in the first 10 minutes in a proper slugfest for the first part until the game settled down. If you are going to get beat against the reigning champions this is the way to do it - go out swinging and putting everything into the game.

The players certainly did that. Celtic came back into it and were decent for the rest of the first half asking a few questions of our defence before getting their third. The penalty for Celtic's fourth goal was soft to say the least – would that be given if it was Celtic? I very much doubt it.

The 2-4 scoreline definitely flattered Celtic at half-time. I may have my Livi-tinted glasses on but I thought we were the best team by a distance in the second half and dominated the ball far more than I have ever seen us do against any of the Old Firm.

Can't fault the effort or tactics in this game but it's more one where we hoped for points rather than expected them. It does make the midweek Dundee United game a must win.

There is some possible light at the end of the tunnel with Davie Martindale's new app, which sounds like Tinder for footballers throwing up a few names to help the cause.

We've secured a midfielder and a winger so far. We need goals most of all I think, defensive cover too if these long-term injured players we have are not back soon.

The table doesn't lie, we're struggling for points despite decent performances so the next month's recruitment is vital but a win against Dundee United is imperative.

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Livingston remain without Shane Blaney, Aidan Denholm, Cammy Kerr and Adam Montgomery.

Dundee United welcome back Luca Stephenson after suspension while Pan Camara is close to a return.

Ross Graham and Ryan Strain are likely to miss out again and Isaac Pappoe is still out.

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• Livingston have lost none of their last seven top-flight home games against Dundee United (W5 D2) since a 0-2 reverse in February 2005.

• Dundee United have only won one of their last eight Scottish Premiership meetings with Livingston (D3 L4), a 2-0 victory in April 2023.

• Excluding years in which they were relegated, Livingston have only won their final top-flight match of a calendar year in three of their previous 11 years (D3 L5), most recently beating Kilmarnock 2-1 to round off 2020.

• Excluding their relegation in 2023, Dundee United have won their final Scottish Premiership match of a calendar year without conceding in both of their last two such fixtures, beating Ross County 3-0 in 2022 and Aberdeen 1-0 in 2024.

• Dundee United's Jim Goodwin has only won one of his nine Scottish Premiership away games as a manager against newly promoted opposition (D3 L5), although that was a 5-1 victory over Dundee United with St. Mirren in January 2021.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Cristian Montano (Livingston): In the chaotic first eight minutes against Celtic, Montano kept his head while everyone else was losing theirs.

Seized his chances to put Livingston ahead twice against Celtic. Almost claimed his hat-trick later in the game.

Watch highlights as Celtic and Livingston share four goals in the opening 10 minutes before the visitors go on to secure victory in the Scottish Premiership. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views after Livingston's winless run continued with a 4-2 home defeat to Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

Leslie: I felt Livingston actually posed a real attacking threat for the first time in a long while, where our box entries actually translated into goal-threatening chances, which is a real positive. But outside of that and the workrate, the performance was abysmal. The Celtic team looked awful defensively too, yet found themselves strolling in the second half rather than trying to fully kill the game. There has to be questions asked regarding David Martindale's position, 17 games without a win is terrible regardless of how small your budget is.

Malcolm: A lot of Livi fans seem to agree that despite the final score we played better in the second half. We played really well overall, and were unlucky not to come away with anything from the game. Celtic just got the breaks. We need a poacher in the opposition box to steal goals. Hopefully January will bring that, and then we can turn things around.

Wilfried Nancy continued to recover from his dismal start as Celtic manager, his side twice coming from behind in a ridiculous first half to beat Livingston and move to within three points of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

Read the match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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Livingston manager David Martindale: "I'm disappointed at the outcome.

"I felt we created enough in the game to get more from the game. I don't think Celtic should have had a penalty. I felt it was a push on Dan Finlayson.

"I felt we were much better in the second half. I felt we posed an attacking threat for the majority of the second half and I thought if we could have nicked that third goal it would have turned into a wee bit more of a contest.

"We changed the shape at half time and I felt we created more than enough chances in the second half to nick that third goal then you never know what could happen from there. We created some good opportunities in transition and on the counter.

"Sometimes you need a wee bit of luck. I feel you need VAR decisions going in your favour, today I felt that went against us again. It's probably a debatable one but I felt it should have gone in our favour. I think the January window is going to help us strengthen.

"I do genuinely feel that there's a lot of positives within performances. I don't think we got battered today, I thought we were competitive within the game. We need to tidy up in our own box and I think that's been our story of late. I think we need to tidy up in the offensive areas as well because goals win games."

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Livingston have paid an undisclosed fee to sign Curacao winger Joshua Zimmerman from Dutch second-tier side TOP Oss.

Zimmerman has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with David Martindale's side, who sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership, and will officially join on 1 January.

The 24-year-old, an international team-mate of Livi defender Joshua Brenet at World Cup-bound Curacao, scored seven goals in 81 appearances for Oss after moving from Belgian club OH Leuven.

He is Livi's second signing in three days, with Ghanaian midfielder Emmanuel Danso having joined earlier this week.

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Livingston defender Ryan McGowan returns from suspension while Cammy Kerr (groin), Aidan Denholm and Shane Blaney (both hamstring) and Adam Montgomery (calf) remain on the sidelines.

Celtic remain without Kelechi Iheanacho, Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand and Marcelo Saracchi (all hamstring) along with Jota (knee) and Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles).