Nicky Devlin to Aberdeen transfer leak sparks David Martindale blast after Livingston captain 'pressure' ramped up

David Martindale has revealed his disappointment over social media pictures appearing to show Livingston skipper Nicky Devlin being paraded by Aberdeen.

But the Lions boss insists the Pittodrie bound full-back is only due praise and the blame lies in a leak which remains a mystery. He said: "The pictures that were online never came from Aberdeen, 100 per cent. They never came from Livingston, 100 per cent. They never came from Nicky Devlin, 100 per cent. I’m disappointed that has happened because it puts a lot of pressure on Nicky as an individual.

"It gets us talking about other clubs, which is unnecessary. Aberdeen and ourselves were not looking to do it like that. Aberdeen approached me and gave me my due, and so did other clubs I’m not going to name to ask if it was okay to talk to Nicky. It was disappointing that came out but there was no hesitation in my mind that Nicky wasn’t going to go out there and run through a brick wall for his teammates. He’s been my captain for two years and he’s given me and this club everything. I can vouch for him - every day he turns up and puts a shift in. He never shirks anything."

Martindale was also pleased to get back to winning ways as they claimed the points against Dundee United. He said: "I think our home form has been very good this season, but we need to brush up on our away form. I know how to fix it, but if you could string the two together we wouldn't be touted for relegation every season!

"I know what I need to do going into next season. I thought we were passive in the first half, but we managed to make tweaks to it and that really helped us. The subs really helped us. We defended very, very well in the second half. The teams down here have not defended well enough