Livingston boss Gary Holt insists survival is the goal as he heads into his third year in the role.
The former Falkirk gaffer marks the second anniversary of his appointment as Lions boss on Sunday with a trip to Aberdeen.
While the list of achievements during those two years is lengthy, he says staying in the league is the club’s only aim this year.
Holt has presided over Livi’s second and third highest finishes in the top flight as he topped ninth spot in his first campaign with fifth last term.
The Lions have also picked up their first point, and first victory, over Celtic on his watch and last year saw a player called into the Scotland squad for the first time in a dozen years. There were clear steps forward between his first and second season, but he admits it might not be a pattern that continues.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: “It’s always been about putting things in place to benefit the club but the pandemic has hit us hard — as it has throughout society.
“We’re now finding that survival is the first and foremost thing. Simple as that. Maybe if we’d managed to complete the season and managed to have the knock-on impact of that with a full pre-season and a normal summer for season ticket sales and fans coming to the ground, we’d maybe have been looking to go that further step in our development as a club.
“That’s just not the case now and the first thing we have to ensure is that we survive in the league and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
He added: “We know where we’re at as a club and what we want to be doing and achieving and it’s all down to sheer hard work from everyone.”
The Lions make the trip north with players potentially needing to play through the pain barrier.
Marvin Bartley and Matej Poplatnik came off injured against Rangers, while the gaffer revealed that centre-back Jon Guthrie carried a knock into the game.
He said: “Marv’s doing OK but there’s a few knocks and bumps. Jon probably shouldn’t have played on Sunday but that just shows that they want to play and they have that determination to put things right after the early part of the season.”
He added: “Aberdeen are a good side with exceptional players so it’s not going to be easy.
“We’ll have a game plan which will be slightly different to Sunday’s against Rangers. Hopefully we’ll have more of the ball and be able to get into areas where we can hurt them.”
