Cristian Montano is confident he will soon hit top form after a testing start to his Livingston career.

The 29-year-old Colombian moved to the Tony Macaroni Arena from Port Vale in the summer but has yet to generate any momentum, with injuries restricting him to just 11 appearances and six starts so far.

Montano has featured in four of the last five matches and feels he is finally starting to find his feet in West Lothian.

He said: “I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s a new experience and at first it was quite hard with the family moving up and getting settled but we got that done. It’s a family-orientated club and that’s helped me settle in.

“I’ve had little niggles that have slowed me down and I’ve spent a lot of time in the treatment room. Coming back from injury, breaking down again and having to build my fitness again, it was quite hard but I just had to dust myself down and remain positive.

“The most important thing as a footballer is to get games under your belt and consistent performances, and then everything else falls into place. At the moment I’m happy that I’m playing games and my performances are starting to pick up. I’m becoming more consistent in my performances whether I’m starting or coming off the bench.”

Montano, who scored 17 times in his four years at Port Vale, is keen to notch his first goal for Livingston after going close in recent matches.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Dundee United, he said: “I don’t know when I’m going to score because the last three games I’ve had chances, going back to the St Mirren game when there was two great saves from the goalkeeper, the game against Hearts when one just went wide, and then on Wednesday (against Hibernian) when I tried to put it over the keeper’s head and it narrowly missed.

“I’ve just got to remain positive because as long as I keep getting in those positions, the goal will come. If I can add goals to my game, which I have done in the last few years down south, it will be great but the main thing is that I’m playing games, enjoying my football and contributing to the team.”