17 July 2021

We were terrible – David Martindale disappointed with Livingston display

17 July 2021

Livingston boss David Martindale was reluctant to use their coronavirus issues as an excuse for their “terrible” display in a 2-1 defeat by Alloa.

Bruce Anderson gave Livi the lead after Alloa striker Conor Sammon had missed a series of first-half chances but goals from Scott Taggart and Alan Trouten in the final 10 minutes earned Alloa three points.

Martindale had shut Livi’s stadium down on Thursday and Friday following Covid issues and revealed five players had tested positive during pre-season, including Craig Sibbald and Jason Holt.

But he still expected much better from his team at the Indodrill Stadium.

“I thought we were terrible from start to finish, I don’t think we were good enough all over the park,” Martindale told LFC Live. “Lethargic, slow, no tempo to the game, we weren’t up to second balls quickly enough.

“It was a difficult, difficult game made even more difficult by us.

“I want to give Alloa credit because I don’t want to sit here and say how bad we were.

“We had a lot of possession and did nothing with it, our rotation and movement wasn’t good enough and we were far too slow in possession.”

When asked if the shutdown had an impact, he said: “I am going to say yes but I don’t want to say yes. It obviously has but it shouldn’t have had that big an impact on the game.

“Sibbs and Holty played more than I wanted them to play but the starting 11 was more than capable of winning that game of football and, as much as we dominated possession, we didn’t do enough with it.”

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