Livingston boss wary of Kilmarnock challenge as they look for third straight home league win

Livingston boss David Martindale says he won’t be taking Kilmarnock lightly despite Saturday’s visitors having struggled so far in their return to the Premiership.

Killie visit the Tony Macaroni Arena at the weekend with just one win from six and currently occupying 11th spot in the table.

But Martindale insists any team managed by Derek McInnes will be no walkover as the Lions look to make it three straight home league victories.

He does concede, though, that fixtures being called off last weekend may benefit his side, with the visitors set to be without influential defender Ash Taylor through suspension.

He said: “It was obviously a bit of strange week because you’re gearing up for a trip to Celtic Park and it doesn’t happen. We all understand why, obviously.

“I think it would have been nice to show respect in a sporting sense, but you can understand why that decision was made. I think it’s important to go with what the majority feel is right in these types of situations.

“Celtic away probably isn’t the worst game to miss in fairness. We were able to get a bit of 11v11 in training and the gap does allow the likes of Bruce Anderson and Morgan Boyes to get closer to being ready without having missed any more games.”

Looking ahead to the Killie clash, Martindale said: “I think Derek McInnes is a fantastic manager and I think him and Tony Docherty are a partnership that has worked well.

“No matter what team he’s in charge of and no matter what players he has at his disposal, it’s going to be a very difficult game. You’re not going to get it easy against a Derek McInnes team, that’s for sure.

“We’ve probably been a wee bit lucky with Ash Taylor now going to be suspended for our game whereas he would have been available had