Livingston boss frustrated by 'shambolic' defending in pivotal defeat to Motherwell

Livingston boss David Martindale says it's time for his players to take responsibility after describing his team's defensive display in this afternoon's 3-1 loss to Motherwell as 'shambolic'.

A woeful performance at Fir Park saw the hosts gifted goals as Joel Nouble was caught in possession for Blair Spittal's opener before Theo Bair doubled the lead five minutes later as he got in behind the defence and slotted past Shamal George.

The quick-fire double sent the Well two goals up within 20 minutes, but it could have been worse as they squandered a couple of decent chances even before Spittal's strike.

Livi gave themselves hope thanks to a fine finish from Scott Pittman midway through the first half as he turned a Cristian Montano delivery beyond Liam Kelly, but the visitors shot themselves in the foot once more as Mick Devlin's attempted pass was pounced on before Bair breezed past him as he slid in to make a challenge inside the penalty box with the striker then delicately dinking the ball over George for his second before the break.

The second half was a more even affair but Livi never looked likely to mount a comeback as their unbeaten run extends to 12 games while they sit six points adrift at the foot of the table heading into 2024.

A frustrated Martindale said: "The first half performance, I never saw that coming. It was well below the standard expected of Livingston players. They probably should have been 3-0 up before they scored, our defending was shocking. It was shambolic and that comes from the individuals on the park.

"I spoke to the players, talked about game plans, tactics, formations. That's all bull**** if you don't do your one v one jobs properly and as a defensive unit it was terrible. It gave us a