Livingston

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Jamie Brandon says he's disappointed the most stable and consistent period of his playing career has come during Livingston's struggles at the bottom of the Premiership.

The 26-year-old has had his fair share of injury battles throughout his time in football, but has featured for the West Lothian side for most of the campaign.

“This season I’ve played a lot more football, which has been good, but I want the team to do well as well as me playing football,” he said.

“That’s been the disappointing aspect of the season, that we’ve not managed to kick on like we have in previous years.

“I feel I’m as fit as I’ve ever been in my career. I feel like injury problems – touch wood – aren’t an issue at this moment in time, and I just want to continue playing as many games as possible.”

“We just have to focus on ourselves. We need to win games to get ourselves out of this situation.

“Whatever happens elsewhere, regardless of whether it goes our way or not, ultimately we need to pick up points.”

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Livingston must let off the "shackles" of their league position and approach Saturday's trip to Easter Road like they did their narrow cup defeat at Celtic, says Rory Loy.

"A couple of weeks ago I probably would have given Livingston no chance, but having watched them at Celtic Park, they were superb," he told BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Tete Yengi was unbelievable last week. That lone striker role at Parkhead can be a lonely, lonely place - trust me, I've been there. You're running between he defenders and you're just getting no joy.

"He held the ball up, he took advantage of every situation that came his way and his finish was top notch.

"Given their performance last week, and the fact Hibs suffered disappointment midweek, I think Livingston can go there and get something. The nature of last week, they looked a real threat.

"No disrespect to Hibs, but they're not playing against the quality of Celtic. I think Livingston need to have that cup attitude. It feels like the shackles are on a bit in the league.

"If they go there with that mindset, I don't think they can get all three points, but they can nick one".

Livingston have suffered some painful setbacks in recent weeks as time runs out in their bid to beat the drop.

Having come back from 2-0 down, David Martindale's side conceded a stoppage-time winner to nearest rivals Ross County. An early lead was tamely squandered at home to Motherwell, then St Johnstone found a late leveller in the ugliest of games in Perth.

You can add County's controversial 98th-minute equaliser against Hibs on Wednesday to that list since it leaves Livi seven points adrift.

They have mustered just one away win in the Premiership - at Hibs in August. Now they return to Easter Road in desperate need of something positive, while victory is imperative for the hosts' hopes of a top-six finish.

With six goals in 10 games, Tete Yengi looks the best bet to spearhead any great escape from relegation.

The 6ft 4in striker is a real handful and cracked home a beautiful finish in a spirited cup loss to Celtic. Now he's up against a fragile Hibs defence that has kept one clean sheet in 12 league outings since beating Livingston in early December.

• Read our full Premiership Picks

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• After a run of four straight league defeats against Livingston between December 2021 and August 2022, Hibernian have since won three of their last four games against the Lions in the Scottish Premiership (L1).

• Livingston have already won away at Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership this season, winning 3-2 in August; the Lions have never won back-to-back top-flight games on the road against Hibs.

• Hibernian have won both of their last two home league games, and could win three in a row at Easter Road for the first time since October 2022.

• Livingston are winless across their last 13 away games in the Scottish Premiership (D3 L10) since beating Hibernian 3-2 in their second away game of the season; the Lions have also conceded in each of their last 24 away games in the competition, the longest such run by any side since Livingston themselves in December 2020 (27 in a row).

• Hibernian’s Martin Boyle has only scored more goals against Aberdeen (7) in the Scottish Premiership than against Livingston (5), netting once in each of his last three home outings in the league against the Lions.

Still stuck at the bottom of the Premiership, can David Martindale get his side any closer to safety with a win at Easter Road on Saturday?

They've already won there this season, all the way back in August - but what XI can do the business this time round?

Choose your Livingston XI here.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland

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Livingston assistant manager Brian Rice spoke to the media before the club's Scottish Premiership trip to Easter Road on Saturday.

Here's what he had to say:

• Club told players to stay away from the ground on Tuesday due to sickness bug within the squad.

• Manager David Martindale is away in Switzerland on studying for his pro license, which Rice says is "massive" for him.

• Rice is enjoying being back in full-time football after his time at Alloa, despite the relegation battle Livingston are in.

• Believes Hibs are a different proposition under Nick Montgomery and praised their "attacking strengths".

• Spoke about Livingston's strong recent history at Easter Road and challenged the players to replicate the "character" and "spirit" they showed against Celtic last time out.

• Also pointed to Liverpool forward Mo Salah, who Rice watched a programme about recently. Says Salah knows what he's going to do in his head, and wants Livingston's players to think about their individual strengths.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland

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Livingston players were told to stay away from the club's stadium on Tuesday due to a sickness bug that was having a major impact on the squad.

Although training resumed on Wednesday, assistant manager Brian Rice says they have no idea who will be available for Saturday's crucial Premiership match away to Hibernian.

“We have had a bug running through the club," Rice said. "[Jason] Holt missed out last weekend because of the bug and it has spread. We shut the club down for the day yesterday.

“We hope to get two or three of them back but right at this time I couldn’t tell who was going to be available and who is not.

“We have four or five off today so it will just be a head count in the next couple of days to see who is available.”

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

The cup defeat at Parkhead has to be one of the oddest games of the season. We leaked four goals from our comedy defending and Celtic dominated the ball, but we were pretty disappointed not to at least take it to extra time.

No one gave Livi a chance, but we gave Celtic a game and maybe even a tiny bit of a fright.

The hope now is that the players take confidence from the performance into our league form. None of the pundits think we are likely to stay up but it's not over yet.

We are in an a awful position but there are still enough games to get up the table. Hibs are next up and we’ve got an up-and-down record against them.

Someone who could play a huge deciding role in this game and the run-in is Tete Yengi. The big Australian has been a standout since arriving in January. He’s scoring the goals we’ve lacked all season so if he’s fit and on form we have a chance.

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• Celtic have now beaten Livingston seven times in a row with an aggregate score of 20-4, since the sides drew 0-0 in October 2021 at Celtic Park.

• Brendan Rodgers has won all 15 matches he has taken charge of in the Scottish Cup with Celtic.

• Celtic attempted 31 shots in the game, registering 11 on target.

• Daizen Maeda scored his first hat-trick for Celtic in his 100th appearance for the club – it is the first time he has scored more than one goal in a game for Celtic.

Livingston manager David Martindale believes goalkeeper Joe Hart kept Celtic in the game as the West Lothian side twice recovered from a goal down only to concede twice late on in Sunday's Scottish Cup loss. (Herald - subscription required), external

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Jamie Brandon admits Livingston need to turn good performances into results, with the side six points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

Livi made things difficult for Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-final, with the scores at 2-2 until Daizen Maeda added a third for the hosts in the 86th minute.

Brendan Rodgers' side went on to win 4-2, but Brandon - playing at centre-back instead of his usual full-back role - says Livingston should take heart from a strong showing at Celtic Park.

"It was a great performance from the boys," Brandon said. "We came here with a gamneplan and executed it well.

"When you play these teams you have to stay switched on the full game and they catch us out in the 86th minute. From there we go chasing the game and get caught again.

"It's disappointing but it was a great performance from the boys.

"That was a real positive for us today - we came here and had a threat on the counter-attack, the boys that were playing in the forward areas.

"Every game in the league is really important now. We can't talk about performances, ultimately we need results to try to get us out of the position we're in now."

Were you at Celtic Park or watch on TV as the Scottish Cup holders progressed to the semi-finals despite a battling display from Livingston?

We want to read your thoughts. Give us your views here.

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The pressure was back on Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic side after they fell short when given the opportunity to go back to the top of the Scottish Premiership last weekend.

Defeat by Heart of Midlothian was compounded by the loss of captain Callum McGregor and centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers through injury and their leadership was clearly missing.

Rodgers' side enjoyed their traditional lions' share of possession, but they looked vulnerable at the back before their superior resources off the bench proved the difference and kept them in the hunt to lift the cup for a 42nd time amid much relief around Parkhead.

David Martindale had bemoaned his need to field a "makeshift" midfield such were Livingston's absences, but the Livingston manager has made his name from making the most of the players at his disposal - and so it was again.

They will be disappointed to exit the cup considering they came close to going ahead at 2-2, but the league remains their priority.

Martindale has found a bit of a gem in Tete Yengi and the former Ipswich Town striker could yet be the difference between staying up and going down as the West Lothian side look to show similar battling qualities and clinical finishing in the Premiership run-in.

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Livingston manager David Martindale told BBC Scotland: "It was a good game, but it was disappointing at the same time because I thought we had a wee opportunity.

"We get sucker-punched into the third goal. Fourth goal, I'm not really too fussed about. We just threw caution to the wind.

"It's probably one of the few occasions we've come here and we've genuinely been in the game. I think we genuinely had the opportunity to win the game today and posed a threat.

"We have them too much territory after the second goal. We were value for money and the players stuck to the shape."

On whether the performances gives him hope for Premiership survival, he adds: "I've never not had that hope personally. We've got some big players coming back over the next two weeks. I've always thought we can stay in the league.

"I'm not going to sit here and lie, it's been a painful season. The players have got to take a wee bit of self belief because that shows what these players are capable of doing."

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Cameron Carter-Vickers, who had returned from injury to play Celtic's latest three games, is a notable absentee, with Stephen Welsh coming into the centre of defence.

The only other change is Nicolas Kühn starting on the wing in place of the suspended Yang Hyun-jun.

Fellow winger Luis Palma had been an injury doubt and does not even make the bench.

As expected, Livingston are without captain Michael Devlin after the defender was forced off last weekend against St Johnstone.

He is one of three absentees, with midfielders David Carson and Jason Holt also not even making the bench, as manager David Martindale makes five changes in all.

Veteran on-loan Heart of Midlothian goalkeeper Michael McGovern is preferred to Shamal George, who is joined on the bench by Andrew Shinnie despite the midfielder's goal in Perth last weekend.

Joel Nouble returns to attack, with Jamie Brandon in defence, while Steven Bradley and Stephen Kelly are in midfield.

Celtic: Hart, Johnston, Welsh, Scales, Taylor, Iwata, O'Riley, Bernardo, Maeda, Kuhn, Idah.

Substitutes: Bain, Lagerbielke, Furuhashi, Holm, Oh, Vata, Kelly, Forrest, Ralston.

Livingston: McGovern, Montano, Obileye, Kelly, MacKay, Brandon, Bradley, Nouble, Nottingham, Kelly, Yengi.

Substitutes: George, Donnellan, Anderson, Sangare, Shinnie, Guthrie, Culbert.

Celtic have lost Yang Hyun-jun to suspension following his failed appeal against his red card against Hearts. The holders remain without midfielders Callum McGregor (Achilles/calf) and Reo Hatate (calf) along with defender Maik Nawrocki (hamstring). Liel Abada has left the club and Alexandro Bernabei has moved on loan.

Livingston captain Michael Devlin is likely to drop out after being forced off last weekend but Cristian Montano and Shaun Donnellan are hoping to feature following fitness issues. James Penrice (hip), Scott Pittman (Achilles) and goalkeeper Jack Hamilton (groin) remain out.

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Stephen Kelly insists Livingston believe they can put their league struggles to one side and cause an upset away to Celtic in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.

Kelly knows what it takes to win at Parkhead, having done so twice during his loan stint with Ross County, and he says Livi have to stay in the game as long as possible.

“Every game you go in with a game plan on how you want to win, how you want to stop the other team, how you want to attack yourselves," Kelly said.

“Obviously when you go to Celtic Park or Ibrox, the longer you keep it 0-0, the more you grow into the game.

“I think it is just a case of that, don’t lose the first goal, but also try and build ourselves into the game and cause a threat going the other way.

“It’s all about the collective. As long as the collective gets the performance. You just need full concentration from the first minute to the last.”

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• Celtic have won both meetings against Livingston this season, with an aggregate scoreline of 5-0.

• Kyogo Furuhashi has scored in both of Celtic's Scottish Cup wins this season, against Buckie Thistle and St Mirren.

• The last time the sides met in the Scottish Cup was in February 2007, when a Derek Riordan double helped Celtic come from behind to win 4-1.