Livingston 2 Ross County 0: Lions live to fight another day after closing gap on drop rivals

By Ian Steven

Hope still exists in the faintest of forms for Livingston in their battle to escape relegation thanks to a determined 2-0 win over Motherwell, leading to manager David Martindale praising his Lions side for their “intensity, application and ability.”

A predatory Bruce Anderson finish coupled with a handball-inspired Sean Kelly penalty was enough to close the gap to Livi’s Highland opponents to nine points with four games remaining, leaving the manager still soberly realistic about the battle to beat the drop.

“It gives you hope but I’ve also got to be pragmatic,” Martindale stated.

"Winning isn’t going to change the way I think about the game. We’ll go away, pick up three points, come in and try to win three points again on Saturday. I’m not delusional and we know the task.

"We only have ourselves to blame but we dug out three points and that’s all you can do. It’s how I’ve operated at Livi for the last eight years.

“I don’t like putting targets on things because at this level at a club this size there’s a good chance you’ll fail so how do you deal with that adversity? In a good season we win 33 percent of our games. What am I doing 67 percent of the time? Trying to pick players and staff up. Nothing is going to change in my approach and how I manage.

“I’m a big advocate of goals changing games and it gave us a foothold in the game.

"County dominated more possession than I’d have liked. We created some really good chances and defended our 18-yard box really well.

"The one negative is we could have dealt better with the counter. We exposed them on the counter but went for the wrong execution. But our intensity, application and ability was there for all to see and that’s testament to the players.”

The Lions