Livingston "not a million miles away" from deal to transfer star Joel Nouble, confirms boss

Livingston boss David Martindale has confirmed that they’re “not a million miles away” from a deal that will see striker Joel Nouble leave the club.

Martindale says two English League One sides and two from the Scottish Premiership are interested in signing the 28-year-old, which would bring a much-needed cash injection for the West Lothian club.

Nouble was left out of the squad that beat Championship side Raith Rovers 2-1 at the Tony Macaroni Arena earlier today, and was disappointed with the decision.

But Martindale says they’re not far away from agreeing a deal and it wouldn’t have been fair on the player or the club to risk him in that scenario.

He said: “I’ve had a wee bit of interest in big Noubes, two teams from League One in England, there are two in the Scottish Premiership.

“Someone put an offer in yesterday that was not a million miles away from where I think we need to be.

“I told them to tidy up a couple of things and I reckon we could get this done.

“I spoke to big Noubes and he was a wee bit disappointed, if I’m honest, that I was pulling him out of the team and the squad.

“But I just felt it was a wee bit unfair on Joel, a wee bit unfair on potentially us.

“You’ve got a player who is potentially moving on, you’re asking him to run through brick walls and I know most players will say they’ll do that, but I don’t think, psychologically, that you can really do that.

“Then you’re taking a bit of a risk in terms of the finances that can bring into the club.

“I did it with Lyndon Dykes [ahead of a move to Queen’s Park Rangers] – I think we were playing against Rangers, and he was raging that I wouldn’t let him play.

“For me, when you’re so close – and this deal is not over the line, I’ve had a figure in my head