Livingston boss Gary Holt has hit out at critics of their style of play – and challenged his side to finish the season on a high.
The Lions defended in numbers at Celtic Park as they grabbed a 0-0 draw, but their defensive style of play came in for some heavy criticism.
Speaking to the Courier, the gaffer said: “That epitomised everything about us this season. Don’t get me wrong we would have liked to have done a wee bit more with the ball but they had that belief to get something out of the game.
“People say to me ‘Oh, you shut up shop, you put 11 men behind the ball.’ We’re not there to entertain 60,000 people. We’re there to entertain our fans and trying to do the best for our football club and we did that. To a man I thought they were excellent.”
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He added: “What was great to see was that everyone took on every instruction. It wasn’t pleasing as such, because I know they can do it, it was more pride to see how dedicated they were to their job.”
With the Lions sitting just two points behind seventh-placed St Johnstone as they enter the split next weekend, the boss has set targets for the players. He said: “They don’t have the off button. They can’t just see the season out. We’ve set targets that hopefully we can beat and seeing what they can achieve. Can we keep that positive goal difference, can we get seventh place, can we get 50 points?
“It’s already been a tremendous season but if we can do that, what an achievement it would be for this club.”
Holt confirmed that defender Ciaron Brown, on loan from Cardiff City, will miss the remainder of the season through injury.
Meanwhile, John Ward stepped down from his role as CEO and director at the club following the draw at Parkhead.
Ward joined Livi when they were struggling – both on and off the field – in the Championship and played a key role in stabilising the business and the rise from League One to the Premiership.
