Livingston boss hopeful international break can lead to defensive reinforcements

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Livingston boss David Martindale says the international break has come at the right time for his ailing defence after they suffered a fifth successive defeat when they went down 2-0 at home to Rangers.The gaffer admitted his side weren't at the races in the first half and were lucky to head into the interval only a goal down - but heaped praise on their second half display.Cyriel Dessers opened the scoring on 26 minutes with his deflected effort trundling beyond Shamal George as the Gers deservedly got themselves in front.

They had dominated the contest up until that point, seeing a Connor Goldson strike called back for offside following a VAR check and James Tavernier sending a penalty wide.And the Gers had a goal chopped off for a second time thanks to VAR towards the end of the first half as Abadallah Sima was ruled to have pushed Cristian Montano prior to Ross McCausland slamming high beyond George.The Lions were much more worth their salt after the interval, although harmless efforts from Bruce Anderson and Montano were the best they could muster in front of goal before a second penalty - this time for a handball on Mikey Devlin with 15 minutes to go - all but put the game to bed.Tavernier made no mistake on this occasion as he sent George the wrong way to wrap up the points.Martindale said: "It honestly felt a bit stop start, a bit chaotic, a bit erratic at times, but I don’t think we were great in the first half, as good as Rangers were."Against the Old Firm, you’ve got to try and stay in the game and that gives you an opportunity within the game. “I thought we started the second half better and you are always in the game at 1-0. “There wasn’t a lot in it up until the second goal.