Livingston

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Livingston manager Marvin Bartley: "We can be disappointed with that, especially with the second goal that we do concede. Mistakes are going to happen in football, it's about how you react. The reaction from the players was fantastic.

"We had to change the shape, we were too comfortable with three centre-halves against two centre-forwards. I'm happy to go man for man and get pressure higher up the pitch.

"I went to a back four and the three boys that came off - Scott Arfield, Danny Wilson and Stevie May - were fantastic at half-time with their teammates. Massive credit to them.

"The players have met adversity head on. They come back into the game twice, that's about character and being a team. The 10 or 11 games under me, they've been fantastic every day.

"It's become an even greater escape, we need a favour tomorrow. If it doesn't go our way, nothing will change in the next two weeks in terms of the way we train."

Bottom side Livingston could be relegated on Saturday, despite coming back twice to draw with Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

Read the full match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Livingston forward Jeremy Bokila has returned to training but Connor McLennan (ankle) is still out.

Aberdeen could have Emmanuel Gyamfi back from concussion while Jack Milne has shrugged off a head knock.

Nicky Devlin will return to full training next week while Kristers Tobers (knee) and Nick Suman (ankle) remain out.

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• Livingston are winless in their past eight league meetings with Aberdeen (D3 L5) since a 2-1 victory in November 2022.

• Aberdeen have kept a clean sheet in each of their past three league visits to Livingston; the Dons last kept four consecutive away league clean sheets against an opponent from August 2020 to December 2021 versus St Johnstone.

• Livingston picked up their first win in 32 league games against St Mirren last time out (D12 L19); they last won back-to-back matches in the Scottish Premiership in January 2023.

• Aberdeen have won 13 of their past 14 league matches played on a Friday; the only exception was a 3-1 defeat at home to Celtic in May 2017. Away from home, the Dons have won each of their past six Friday matches in the Scottish Premiership by an aggregate score of 15-2.

• Kevin Nisbet needs one more goal to become the first Scottish player to score 10+ league goals in back-to-back seasons for Aberdeen since Lee Miller in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Livingston have finally won a game. It comes as a huge relief.

Our 31-match winless league run - embarrassingly a record in the Scottish top flight - has come to an end.

We've played better in lots of games this season and had nothing to show for it. It wasn't pretty but the team dug in when they had to and played it smart to hit St Mirren on the break.

Relief was the overwhelming feeling among other Livi fans too. Some even thought this may be the start of the most unlikely comeback of all time.

Sadly, a miracle relegation escape remains highly unlikely but it was nice to get that win.

To avoid the drop we need to win all our remaining games and Killie lose all theirs. It's possible but considering we've had two wins all season it's just not going to happen.

Now the players have finally tasted victory maybe they can play with more confidence and less fear and go out all guns blazing with plenty of goals scored. It would give the fans something to really cheer and build hope for next season.

ARE HEARTS DESTINED TO WIN THE TITLE? 🏆

It was a seismic weekend in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership crown. Are you rejoicing, are you quietly optimistic, or are you chucking it?

Join the debate with Ray Bradshaw at 18:00 BST TONIGHT on the BBC Sport Scottish Football YouTube channel, external to give us your views in the chat. The show is fully interactive, so have your say.

Remember to like and subscribe to not miss it!

Watch the Sportscene team discuss Scott Pittman's goal and Livingston's performance in their 2-0 win over St Mirren, just their second victory of the season and their first since August.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

GK: Jerome Prior - Livingston

Five big saves of every variety to keep St Mirren at bay as Livingston finally earned a long-awaited victory.

RB: Stephen O'Donnell - Motherwell

Having a wonderful season under Jens Berthel Askou. Asked to play on the left and wasn't an issue. Two assists for the former Scotland international, who can easily slot into right-back for me here.

CB: Ryan McGowan - Livingston

Did all the unfashionable graft a centre-back has to do at times to earn his side a seldom seen three points.

CB: Kieran Tierney - Celtic

Seven goals for club and country this season. Another rasper against Falkirk.

LB: Emmanuel Longelo - Motherwell

Unleashed in a further forward role than left-back, but he can slot in there easily for me here. What a player he has been all season. Two huge goals as Motherwell underlined their kingmaker credentials in this incredible title race.

CM: Blair Spittal - Hearts

Off the bench to score what could be one of the most pivotal winners of the season for Hearts at Easter Road.

CM: Callum Slattery - Motherwell

Back from suspension and exemplified the quality Motherwell showed in abundance at Ibrox.

RW: Sabah Kerjota - Hearts

The Albanian was a game-changer as Derek McInnes brought him on to find the path through the stubborn Hibs defence. Kerjota duly delivered, not once but twice. His contribution to the Hearts title push was immense.

AM: Martin Boyle - Hibernian

In his last Edinburgh derby he took his goal superbly, couldn't have caught it any sweeter.

LW: Will Ferry - Dundee United

Hadn't scored a single goal for Dundee United until his strike against Celtic a few weeks ago. Now he can't stop. Great work rate and quality again from the wide man as he made all the difference in the Dundee derby.

ST: Daizen Maeda - Celtic

Like a phoenix rising from the flames, is Maeda rising at just the right time to fire Celtic to the title? Celtic's opening two goals came from his tenacity and pressing, and their third - Maeda's second - was instinctive striker play.

Watch all the highlights as Livingston picked up their second victory of the season and handed St Mirren's survival hopes a blow with a 2-0 win in Paisley. Available to UK users only.

Livingston manager Marvin Bartley: "Hopefully the beginning of a miracle. It's one game at a time. We need to produce our best at both ends of the pitch and the players have managed to do that today.

"The players have given me everything every day, it's not just about the match on a Saturday. The wins have run away from us, but hopefully this win can give them a lift and belief as well.

"We have to grow in belief, when you've been on the run we've been on it's difficult mentally. We also have to keep our feet grounded. We're still bottom of the league. But all we can do is train well and prepare for Aberdeen.

"It's not about me. I come in to work, work as hard as I can preparing the players as best as I can, and hope they produce on a Saturday.

"I've never seen them down in the dumps, because they know they have to work hard. It's a constant for them. They don't get too high or low.

"It's a fantastic feeling at this moment in time. It's only our third clean sheet of the season. I have to give a massive shout out to Neil Hastings, because they saw what was happening in the first half, articulated what was happening, and the players took it up a notch."

Livingston picked up just their second Scottish Premiership win of the season - and first since August - as they beat St Mirren to keep their extremely slim survival hopes alive.

Read the full match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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St Mirren will have either 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius, who has signed a contract extension after making his debut in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic, or Ross Sinclair, who has arrived on a seven-day emergency loan from St Johnstone, in goal against Livingston.

It follows Sunday's injury to Ryan Mullen, while Shamal George already sidelined.

Malik Dijksteel, Keanu Baccus and Marcus Fraser are out for the season, but forward Dan Nlundulu could be back.

Livingston forwards Connor McLennan and Jeremy Bokila are still out, but midfielder Aidan Denholm is closer to featuring after recovering a long-term hamstring injury.

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Marvin Bartley insists Livingston's focus will be only on three points when they travel to St Mirren on Saturday with relegation staring them in the face.

With five post-split Premiership fixtures remaining, Livi are bottom of the table, 12 points behind Kilmarnock and 14 behind the Buddies.

The West Lothian side, who have only one league win this season, could find themselves relegated this weekend if results do not go their way but manager Bartley stressed the need to keep fighting.

He said: "We definitely understand the situation we're in. The boys and the staff and I understand that. You have to go and play the 90 minutes.

"I think if you start thinking of permutations of what could happen, it adds pressure. We're already in a real difficult position, which we understand.

"So we have to go and put our best foot forward and like I said, we understand the pressure and the permutations of things.

"But we'll just be playing the 90 minutes, not worrying about anything else. Focus on what you can control which is the game against St Mirren.

"In terms of pressure, I was very strange in a sense where I enjoyed the pressure. I would say to the players to thrive underneath it.

"There's a lot bigger pressures in life than you feel as a footballer, going out there to fight for three points is a privileged position.

"That's what I'll be saying to my players because it's only natural that you're going feel some sort of pressure and some sort of nerves.

"It's about putting that into a positive energy in way it can help you perform, rather than fearing it."

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• St Mirren have lost just one of their past 16 Scottish Premiership meetings with Livingston (W7 D8), going down 1-0 away from home in February 2024.

• Livingston won their first-ever Premiership visit to St Mirren 2-0 in August 2018, but have since failed to win 10 such trips in the competition (D4 L6), losing their past four in a row and failing to score in their latest three.

• Depending on Kilmarnock's result at Aberdeen, Livingston could be relegated this weekend should they fail to beat St Mirren. Since the Premiership rebranded in 2013, they would be only the second newly-promoted side to be relegated from the division, after Dundee in 2021-22.

• St Mirren haven't won their first game after the Premiership split in any of their past five seasons (D1 L4), although their last win on matchday 34 in the competition came against Livingston in 2018-19 (3-1).

• Livingston have dropped 25 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season; since the competition's rebrand in 2013, the record in a single campaign is 28 by Hamilton in 2017-18 and Dundee in 2024-25.

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Aidan Denholm recalled the sheer frustration of a second debilitating injury as he gets set to resume his Livingston career following an eight-month absence.

After signing from Hearts last August, the 22-year-old midfielder sustained a hamstring injury on his debut against Kelty Hearts in the League Cup and went under the knife for a second time, after suffering a similar injury playing on loan at Ross County from the Jambos, which kept him out for the second half of last season.

Prior to Saturday's trip to St Mirren, the first of the five post-split Premiership fixtures and where Livi could officially be relegated if results go against them, fit-again Denholm summed up his season to date.

"Probably one word – frustration," he said.

"Signing here to kick on in my career as obviously I got injured on loan at Ross County and then first game it happens again, which is incredibly frustrating.

"But this rehab has been a lot smoother and I've not had any hiccups so far, touch wood. The club's been different class for me and supported me through it.

"It's not easy having two surgeries at the age of 22. Before then I was pretty fit and never had any real injuries, so the season has been pretty frustrating and watching the boys was even harder.

"Watching the boys train when you're in a leg brace and can't put your leg straight.

"I don't think anyone can play down that surgery is probably the hardest part, you can't do anything, you're bed-bound. I was in a brace for eight weeks. You can't straighten your leg.

"It was incredibly tough the second time around. My family have all been through it as well so it's not just me. They've had to deal with my moods and my girlfriend as well, she's had to put up with me."

Livi are bottom of the table, 12 points behind Kilmarnock and 14 behind St Mirren.

Denholm said: "It's been a difficult season for me personally and for the club.

"But we're not a million miles away and it's not done yet, so the approach is we go there and try to get three points."

We asked for your views on which player has been Livingston's biggest disappointment this season.

Here are some of your comments:

Ben: Alex Tamm. Another in a long list of Martindale signings that plays a handful of minutes, then never to be seen again. He did come with international experience, and a good age, but has barely featured in an awful squad. It's a good thing David Martindale isn't tasked with rebuilding the squad next season isn't it…

Derek: There's been a few disappointing performers, especially in the forward areas. I wouldn't like to single anyone out for this as the whole team really haven't got going this season, I'd tend to blame the board for not acting on the managerial change sooner when it was clear and obvious that the tactics weren't working.

Willie: Martindale by far.

Last week we asked for your Livingston player of the year - and goalkeeper Jerome Prior edged it.

Now we want to know the Livi player who has been the biggest disappointment in what has been a miserable season.

It could be a new signing who has underwhelmed or an existing squad member who has failed to kick on.

Share your thoughts here.

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We asked for your views on Livingston's player of the season.

Here's what some of you said:

Brian: My player of the year is Scott Pittman. Always get 100 per cent from Scott, no matter who he is playing against. He is really Mr Livingston and I think naming a stand after him would not be over the top.

Craig: Jerome Prior has been excellent in goal despite the poor results. Lewis Smith has been the best outfield player by a country mile.

Malcolm: Livingston player of the year has to be Stevie May. Guaranteed to put in 110 per cent when he's on the pitch. If we're including loan players, he's closely followed by Macaulay Tait.

Derek: There's only really been one stand out performer for me and that's goalkeeper Prior. The guy has been excellent in a very poor, under-performing team. We'll be very, very lucky to see him at Livi next season.

It's been a far from glorious return to the top flight for Livingston.

They have mustered just one win, have languished in bottom spot for much of the campaign, and look doomed to the drop.

But have their been any impressive players in a lacklustre campaign?

We want to know who's been your Livingston player of the year. Tell us here

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Can we stop the season now, please?

I'm not sure there's any point pretending otherwise - we are relegated. Players and officials have to stay positive and show a path forward, but the reality is we are dead in the water.

The game against United pretty much sums up our season. We were second best for much of the first half, then played well for large parts of the second.

We could have won it and should have taken at least a point, but somehow managed to give away a daft penalty (quite a harsh decision) and walk away with nothing.

We may as well enjoy Lewis Smith while we can, as our best attacking threat will surely move on to another Premiership club when the axe falls on us.

The winger was our main attacking outlet again and is thriving under Marvin Bartley. His two goals got us right back into this game, but once again we shot ourselves in the foot.

The sad fact is after 33 games, we have won only one game - which was way back in August. We have drawn 16 games, conceded 66 goals and scored 35, leaving us with a paltry 16 points.

Weirdly, there's still a lot I've enjoyed. We've played well in spells and have been desperately unlucky not to get more points on the board.

In the dreadful 23-24 season when we were last relegated, we somehow amassed 25 points with five wins and 10 draws.

Even Carol Vorderman couldn't find a way to make the numbers stack up for us to survive this time.

I'd be quite happy to give up on this season and start planning for the next. I know there are lots of contractual shenanigans ahead, but we should already know who we have for next season and start working on a system to get us straight back up.

There's no point playing the retirement contingent or the players who have been no better than what we already had from January. It's time to get things in place for next season and face the reality of where we'll be.