Gary Holt insists everyone is going into the new season blind given the bizarre build up to the big kick-off - even Rangers and Celtic.
Livingston begin their Scottish Premiership campaign away to St Mirren tomorrow and while neither club is completely unfamiliar with the other given the amount of times they’ve locked horns over the past few seasons, Holt admits there’s nothing much the opposition can do should either of them decide to spring a surprise.
"We all know how most of the teams play and they know how we play,” he said. “But what they've got is we haven't seen the different things that they've tried to implement, and they haven't seen the different things that we've tried to implement.
“We've done as much analysis to get as much information as we can get, so that makes it a wee bit more exciting as well because you haven't had the league cup games or friendlies to go and watch.
“But there will be no excuses come five'o-clock Saturday that we weren't ready.
"Look at the bigger sides like Celtic and Rangers - how much activity has there been in the transfer market? Not that much at the moment.
“Everybody is asking how much do we need and who do we need? How much money is available? With no fans coming in and no income across the board, you've got to cut your cloth accordingly and build within that.”
Holt has still managed to do a good amount of business however, and believes he has a stronger group at his disposal with more creativity.
Key will be hanging on to Aussie hitman Lyndon Dykes, who has been on Rangers’ radar for a while now.
But Holt is keen to share the goals throughout the team whether his main man stays or not.
“Last year, wee Stiv [Steven Lawless] got a fair amount of penalties but he chipped in, big Jon Guthrie chipped in and Lyndon. But you want your striker scoring goals, whoever's playing up there in the attacking areas. That's their job.
“Not just to score goals, but to lead the line and be creative. The unfortunate thing for them is they have to work damn hard to get in our team because we need them doing the other side. We hang our hat on defending from the front first and foremost. You put a shift in for the team first and you'll get rewards.
"We've added a bit more craft and creativity and hopefully we'll get a few more goals to help the big man as well.”
Skipper Marvin Bartley fancies himself to find the scoresheet more often, to the extent that he’s placed a wager with Holt, who revealed he had to negotiate the terms.
“He thinks he'll score x-amount of goals,” he said. “I'll take that bet.
“It's not one! He only got one last year and he's never shut up about it! He tried to include assists but I took them out. That wasn't a fair challenge.”
