Livingston 1, Dundee 4: 'Blame me for defeat', says Livi boss David Martindale

Livingston manager David Martindale assumed full responsibility for his side’s 4-1 capitulation to 10-man Dundee, which sees the Lions rooted to the foot of the Premiership table., writes Ian Steven.

A missed penalty, lapses of concentration in defence and an inspired Michael Mellon debut all contributed to the Lions manager questioning the mental conditioning of his side for the relegation battle ahead.

“Our problems are all coming from individuals not doing the basics”, Martindale lamented.

“It is just generally the basics. I think I have to take full responsibility for that because it is me that coaches the players, it is me that picks the team, it is me that recruits the players. I think I have got to take full responsibility for that.

“We worked on penalties in training. We spoke to players, we did footage.

“What I will say, it doesn’t matter how many penalties you can score in training, it’s a different environment when you need a goal and you are put under a bit of pressure.

“Then you probably throw in the league position, how much the goal means to the game, how much the goal means to the league, how much the goal means to the club. There is a lot of added pressure on top of that.

“I think there is a fear attached to that. There is a fear of relegation, there is a fear of failure. That eats into you as an individual, and I have seen a huge momentum shift in terms of the positivity leading to adversity.

“I think it has had a massive effect on the players.

“Again, as a group, we only have ourselves to blame. I have tried everything, I have done everything, but as individuals, they have to look at themselves.”

A poor touch from James Penrice gifted Amadou Bakayoko the perfect chances to open the scoring for the Dee,