Livingston

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Livingston head coach Marvin Bartley is hoping his players can use a bustling Almondvale to their advantage - even if it is mostly full of Hearts fans.

The bottom club host Derek McInnes' table-topping side on Sunday, with the visitors bringing 7,000 fans to fill three of the four stands.

"As a footballer you want to play in front of full houses," Bartley said.

"Whether it's your fans or the away fans, you want to see a full stadium.

"I think if you ask any of my players, I think they would definitely prefer what they're going to go into on Sunday.

"Ultimately you have to try and use it to your advantage and motivate yourself to go out there and show that you're as good as the players you're playing against."

Hearts could find themselves second in the table going into Sunday's game should Rangers win at home to Dundee United on Saturday.

But Bartley has praised the work McInnes has done this season.

"I think they've surprised everyone, from the point of view that you always expect it to be Celtic or Rangers up there," he added.

"To do what they've done is unbelievable, they deserve massive praise. Maybe at the start, people were saying, 'they'll fall away sooner or later' but here we are with seven games to go and they're still top.

"There's an expectation now on them rather than, 'let's see how far they can go', and they've dealt with that and taken it in their stride. The consistency that they've shown has been top tier and that's why they're top of the league."

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Livingston will be without the suspended Brooklyn Kabongolo and Macaulay Tait, who is unable to face his parent club. Connor McLennan (ankle) is still out, but Aidan Denholm is closing in on a return after a long-term hamstring injury.

Hearts welcome back defenders Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley after injury, while Stuart Findlay has a chance of being involved. Tomas Magnusson, who was set to return after a broken cheekbone, is now out with a thigh injury, while Harry Milne (calf), Craig Gordon (shoulder), Ageu (thigh) and Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring) are still out.

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Livingston defender Danny Wilson has backed his former club Hearts to win the Premiership title.

The centre-back has been surprised by his side's poor return to the top flight and suggested their late 2-1 defeat to Hearts at the start of the season set the tone for their campaign.

Hearts are two points in front of Rangers at the top while Livi sit rock bottom, 12 points behind Kilmarnock and St Mirren, with seven games to play.

"Given the consistency they've shown, I don't see why they can't go on to win the league," Wilson said of Hearts.

"They've been the most consistent team and they find themselves deservedly at the top of the league.

"They have all the ingredients to be a successful team. They are very solid and they have players that can win them games. I've been really impressed with them."

The sides meet in West Lothian on Sunday, a fixture Livi haven't won since 2022. Marvin Bartley's men are without a victory in any competition since the start of August.

And Wilson suggested Hearts' 2-1 win at Almondvale at the start of the season, where Livi conceded an injury-time goal to lose, set the tone for an underwhelming campaign.

"They've won a lot of games by the odd goal," the 34-year-old added.

"When we played them here earlier in the season I thought that sort of set the tone for our season.

"We were very unlucky not to have taken one or three points but we took none.

"We know how tough it will be, but hopefully we can make it three points this weekend to give ourselves a better feeling."

The captain said Livi's poor run is "something I didn't expect coming into this season" and added: "We need to start putting points on the board.

"We're really at that stage now where if we don't, then it's looking like the inevitable is going to happen."

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• Hearts have lost their past three away league outings; they had only lost two of their first 12 on the road in 2025-26 before this (W8 D2 L2).

• Livingston have failed to score in their past two league games, but haven't done so three times in a row in the Scottish Premiership since April 2024.

• Hearts have lost just two of their past 28 top-flight matches against Livingston (W16 D10), although both were away, in December 2018 (5-0) and September 2022 (1-0).

• Livingston have lost their past five Premiership games against Hearts, never before losing six in a row to the Tynecastle side in the top flight.

• Hearts have scored 20 league goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) this season - more than any other side. Livingston have conceded 18 from non-penalty set-plays, also a league-high figure.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Livingston boss Marvin Bartley has been speaking to the media as his side prepare to welcome league leaders Hearts on Sunday.

Here are the main points:

• Looking back on the 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock before the break, Bartley says "the end product in certain situations let us down" but admits "the lads took accountability" for their mistakes in that game.

• Livingston currently occupy the bottom spot in the Premiership, 12 points behind Killie above them with seven games to play and Bartley stresses "every game was massive when I came in as manager and nothing's changed."

• But the boss knows "our focus can only be on Sunday against Hearts, if you start looking beyond that you find yourself in massive trouble."

• While Bartley knows he's got a talented squad, he stresses "better teams have been relegated, it doesn't matter what you are on paper" adding "nobody's too good to go down and come the end of the season where you are is where you deserve to be."

• Bartley took over from David Martindale earlier this season but his contract is due to expire at the end of this campaign and Bartley admits "we need clarity on that, that's something I've spoken to the club about".

• When asked if he'd like to stay in West Lothian, Bartley says "of course, I love it here" but stresses "my main focus is on Sunday but of course I want to stay on but it's something that needs to be sorted out and sorted out quickly".

• On the visit of league leaders Hearts, Bartley admits "their pressure is very different to ours".

• And with several players, such as Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin, getting back to full fitness Bartley says "whatever Hearts teams is out there will be extremely strong" adding "we have to be at our best".

• Bartley admits the title challengers have "surprised everyone" adding "they deserve massive, massive praise" for their achievements this term.

• The Edinburgh club are bringing 7000 supporters to Livingston and Bartley says "as a footballer you want to play in front of a full house" adding "you have to use that energy to your advantage and inspire you to go out and perform."

• Team news: everyone is available, Aiden Denholm has trained for the last few weeks and just needs the all clear.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Defeat against relegation rivals Kilmarnock was tough to take in a season of sore ones.

The result was a fair summary of a game where we hardly laid a glove on our fellow season-long strugglers.

We hit the post but otherwise there wasn't much to write home about in a defeat that all but seals our fate. We are bound for the Championship. Even the most wildly optimistic Livi fan accepts this now.

We are 29 games without a victory, setting winless records every week and 12 points behind a team that weren't any better than us a few months ago.

The players are hurting, said manager Marvin Bartley. If only they could have channelled that during the game. Killie were better than us in every department.

The key point here isn't this result. You can track our malaise back to earlier in the season when Kilmarnock acted quicker to move on a manager that wasn't getting results and added fresh blood with some relegation-fighting experience.

The January transfer window was pivotal too with Killie signing well while we rolled the dice on old-timers struggling to get games elsewhere and players who must have amazing edits for their YouTube best of clips because we have barely seen any quality on the pitch.

We even paid a six-figure sum for a player that was no better than we had and has hardly troubled the team. We have more or less played with our Championship team all season.

All that's left is to see out this miserable season and start planning for next year. I think most of these players will leave, but what will happen to the overcrowded coaching and management structure? Will Calvin Ford's pockets be deep enough to sustain the many directors of this and that?

The chance to get some younger, hungrier players in place to mount a Championship title challenge is a journey I look forward to. That journey needs to begin now.

Watch Kilmarnock move 12 points clear of Scottish Premiership bottom side Livingston with victory at Rugby Park.

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Kilmarnock recorded back-to-back victories in the Scottish Premiership for only the second time this season as they downed bottom side Livingston to leave them 12 points adrift at the foot of the table.

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Livingston manager Marvin Bartley tells BBC Sportsound: "We're hurting. The emotion right now is hurting - the players, myself, probably everybody associated with the football club.

"We just weren't good enough in probably both boxes. There's definitely an opportunity there. It has been missed.

"In the final third, attacking-wise got into some good situations and the final ball wasn't good enough.

"Ultimately the two goals that we concede, especially the second one, our set-up - we become lazy.

"It's bleak but this isn't a recent thing, it's been across the whole season. We all need to show that we're good enough to represent Livingston Football Club."

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Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann has no new injury concerns. Tyreece John-Jules (quad), Djenairo Daniels (knee) and Matty Kennedy (hip) remain out.

Livingston pair Joel Nouble and Brooklyn Kabongolo are both doubtful after picking up injuries against Hibs last weekend while Connor McLennan (ankle) is still out but Aidan Denholm is closing in on a return after a long-term hamstring injury.

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Livingston defender Dan Finlayson believes a victory at Kilmarnock on Saturday would revitalise their bid to stay in the Scottish Premiership.

The West Lothian outfit are nine points behind second-botom Killie, but results have improved since Marvin Bartley took charge, with four straight draws.

"We know how big a game it is," Finlayson said. "At this point in the season, every game is massive, but there's no getting away from the fact ourselves and Kilmarnock have been in this situation for a long time with each other.

"It's a massive game. The tide can turn really quickly if the result goes your way but then also if it doesn't, it can get too far away. We understand it's a crucial point of the season.

"But I think it's just about staying relaxed, going into the game calm, with clear heads. We're on a good run, so let's keep positive and see where we are at five o'clock."

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• Kilmarnock are unbeaten in six Scottish Premiership meetings with Livingston (W3 D3); they had lost five in a row against them in the competition beforehand.

• Livingston have lost three of their last four Premiership visits to Kilmarnock, although the exception was their most recent, a 2-2 draw on matchday one this season.

• After only winning two of their opening 23 league matches of the season (D8 L13), Kilmarnock have since won three of their past seven (D1 L3), with these three wins coming in their past four at home (L1).

• Livingston's tally of 15 points is the lowest by any side in their opening 30 matches of a Scottish top-flight campaign since Livingston themselves in 2005-06 (12).

• Against Hearts last time out, Michael Schjonning-Larsen became Kilmarnock's 15th different goal scorer (excluding own goals) in the Premiership this season, as many as they had in the whole of 2024-25. Killie last had more different players find the net in a campaign in the competition in 2018-19 (17).

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Livingston boss Marvin Bartley says his players can thrive on being "written off" in their bid for Premiership survival.

Livi sit rock bottom of the table, nine points behind Kilmarnock and St Mirren, and their solitary win came in August.

Bartley, who replaced David Martindale as manager in early February, began with back-to-back defeats but has since led Livi to four draws on the bounce.

This weekend they face a huge game against fellow strugglers Killie and Bartley said: "Ultimately we go into every game looking to take at least a point out of it but obviously going out there to win. If you can't win, we don't lose. And this weekend's no different.

"The players know exactly what we need from them, know exactly what we expect from them. We want to win every game between now and the end of the season and this Saturday's no different.

"We concentrate on what we're going to try and do, because in other games, at Easter Road [last weekend] for example, people would have written us off.

"Playing against Rangers, people would have written us off. At 2-0 down against Dundee, people would have written us off. At 1-0 down against St Mirren, people think oh, they won't come back.

"We need to close the gap. There's more than enough time to do it. There's more than enough points to play for.

"It's four games unbeaten. Yes, there's no wins within that, but it's four games unbeaten. Can we close the gap between now and the split? And then when we get to the split, we'll see where we're at and then we have to go again.

"If we overtake the team above us on the last day of the season, so be it. That's all I care about, getting out of this situation."

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Former referee Steve Conroy thinks it is "mission creep" with VAR in Scottish football before new changes to the laws for the upcoming World Cup.

VAR was introduced in Scotland almost four years ago but has frequently been criticised by fans, players, managers and former players.

Now there could be more changes to the scope of technology as football's law-making body the International Football Association Board (Ifab) backed plans to increase the powers of VAR.

For this summer's World Cup in America, VAR will be allowed to intervene on second yellow cards and the awarding of corners, provided the process doesn't slow down the flow of play.

Ifab has also expanded the countdown rule around goalkeepers where they have eight seconds to release the ball from their hands to include goal kicks and throw-ins.

But former referee Conroy thinks involving the technology in more decision-making is bad news for the game.

"It's inescapable that there is more and more mission creep with VAR," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The authorities seem hell-bent on using it more and more and relying on it and I think that is to the detriment of football.

"I know Ifab are talking about getting them involved for corners and second yellows and all that sort of stuff. As [Celtic interim manager] Martin O'Neill said, soon enough we'll just referee from a port-a-cabin somewhere.

"And this is all happening at the same time as every football supporter survey tells you that they just want it binned."

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Saturday was a mixed bag for Livi fans. There was an impressively gritty performance to get our first clean sheet in six months and a much-needed point at Easter Road.

This led to much hope and number crunching that Carol Vorderman would be proud of.

The theory was if Hearts do what everyone expects them to do later that night and we could beat Killie a week later then there's only three points in it.

Sadly for us it didn't go that way with the other Edinburgh team. We're now nine points behind and fast running out of games.

We needed Hearts to do us a favour. Now we need snookers and a minor miracle.

The only crumb of hope left is that we somehow win against Killie, which now seems that bit harder on their showing in the Hearts game.

To be fair we were really up for it against Hibs with a traditional Livi style, bodies on the line, defend at all costs performance.

It wasn't pretty but that point added to our tally was a beautiful sight.

We are now four unbeaten under Marvin Bartley and playing better defensively, albeit the goals are still a bit lacking.

Makes you wonder if changing the manager was perhaps a little late and maybe we would be in a better place if Marvin had taken charge earlier.

Who knows? But at least we are going down with a fight.

I wasn't wholly convinced in Big Marv's appointment, I thought it was more of the same and didn't achieve the change required to turn our season around.

I'm very happy to say he's won me over and I think whatever league we are in next season, he should be our manager.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

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Jerome Prior - Livingston

Five saves at Easter Road are unlikely to save Livingston's season, but they brought a clean sheet and a point nonetheless.

Warren O'Hora - Hibernian

Another solid showing from the centre-back and a clean sheet.

Kieran Tierney - Celtic

His character and class continues to help keep Celtic fighting for a league and cup double.

Michael Schjonning-Larsen - Kilmarnock

A huge goal against Hearts from the Estonian international to earn his Kilmarnock side a massive three points in their fight against relegation, and throw a massive spanner in the works of the Hearts title tilt.

Luca Stephenson - Dundee United

A brilliant, brave back-post header looked like it would give Dundee United all three points in the derby, but it wasn't to be.

Alex Gogic - St Mirren

If any player ever deserved the classic football hard man head bandage it's Alex Gogic. But the Cyprus international goes the extra mile.

With blood erupting from his head after a clash with a team-mate, there was no bandage required. Instead it took staples to stem the flow, topped off by a massive dollop of Vaseline. What a warrior.

He must be the most old-school player in the Premiership, and we love him for it. Great defensively against Rangers.

Nico Raskin - Rangers

Full of energy in the hurly-burly of midfield in poor conditions in Paisley. He delivered the assist for the vital goal.

Tuur Rommens - Rangers

Got high up the field to decisive effect as he sealed a big three points for Rangers.

Yang Hyun-Jun - Celtic

Two goals in a huge game to sink Motherwell. That is now six goals since Christmas for the South Korean international.

Barney Stewart - Falkirk

The young striker is brimming with belief after graduating to Premiership football. 16 goals now in all competitions for the 21-year-old - albeit half of them while on loan at Championship Dunfermline. Four goals in his last 3 games, huge potential.

Findlay Curtis - Kilmarnock

Has brought a bit of X-factor to the Kilmarnock attack. Looks like a player who can ignite things for the Rugby Park side as they fight to get out of the play-off spot.

Livingston make it four draws in a row as the Scottish Premiership's bottom club frustrate Hibernian in a goalless stalemate at Easter Road.

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Livingston manager Marvin Bartley: "The boys gave me everything. That's all I expect, to get 100%, and I'm definitely getting that from the starters and all of the subs.

"The morale within the group is really good. We switched from a back five to a back four and they took it in their stride.

"As long as every player and every staff member continues to give everything, we have a fantastic chance to get out of this situation."

On the late penalty award for Hibs that was overturned, he adds: "I was rubbing my eyes because I think the referee was the only person to see that as a penalty kick. I couldn't believe it, but thankfully we have VAR in this division."

Livingston fans, is the Great Escape on?

A gritty defensive display earned Marvin Bartley's side a fourth successive draw away to Hibs.

Read the match report.

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