Scottish football is 'crying out' for a bigger Premiership, says Livingston boss

Livingston boss David Martindale wasn’t surprised by the quality of Raith Rovers, and reckons they should be plugging away alongside them in the Premiership.

Ian Murray’s side took the lead through Jack Hamilton’s fifth-minute strike at the Tony Macaroni Arena and provided plenty of unsettling moments before Livi levelled through Jamie Brandon, and sub Dan Mackay bagged a late winner to put them through.

Martindale isn’t at all surprised that Raith made life difficult for them, and reckons they and others could do a job in the top flight.

He said: “I genuinely don’t think there’s anything between the top five Championship teams and the bottom six Premiership clubs.

“I genuinely don’t think there’s anything between the leagues.

“We’ve won against a Championship opponent but I spoke about it before the game and I don’t see them as a ‘Championship’ club – I don’t think there’s a lot between the clubs.

“You only need to look at results elsewhere that show you how difficult cup football can be.

“Hibs went up to Forfar, go the result in a sticky game, Hearts was a sticky game, and Partick Thistle won 3-0, so it just shows you.

“I think Scottish football is crying out for a bigger league, I do, because I think the quality below it is actually there.”

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