Livingston are close to building a 'competitive' squad for next season, says boss

Livingston boss David Martindale reckons he’s close to a squad that will be competitive in a tight Scottish Championship next season.

Martindale took his summer signings to seven with the capture of 28-year-old French goalkeeper Jerome Prior, and former Hamilton Accies winger Lewis Smith, 24, and they agreed a pre-contract deal with Tranmere Rovers midfielder Reece McAlear on Wednesday.

Livingston lost a raft of players at the end of last season, high-profile players like Bruce Anderson, Andrew Shinnie and Ayo Obileye, but Shamal George, Stephen Kelly, Michael Nottingham, Scott Pittman, Tete Yengi, Aphelele Teto, Samson Lawal, Shaun Donnellan and Jamie Brandon are under contract.

Cristian Montano has agreed a new deal for this season, and they’re in talks with Sean Kelly.

Martindale said: “We’re sitting with good numbers. Within the current squad there are three or four that are in contract that we need to try and move on. They’ve been told their game-time is going to be limited, at best, and it’s probably better if they try to find something else.

“I’m currently talking to one or two right now that we want to try and get over the line, and at that point we’ll have a really strong squad, going into pre-season.

“At that point it’s maybe one in, one out, so I’m really happy with what we’ve got.

“Defensively, we’re still looking at a few options and we need to shore up the defensive numbers.

“I’m really happy with where we are, but there’s progression to be made.”

Martindale revealed that assistant Brian Rice played a key role in getting Smith to end a 15-year spell with boyhood club, having been boss there from 2019-21, where he coached the winger.

Smith’s last act as a Hamilton player was to help them gain promotion back