St Johnstone v Livingston: Lions boss sets target in great escape bid

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Livingston boss David Martindale says his side must be within three points of their relegation rivals going into the Premiership split in April if they are to stand a chance of pulling off a great escape.The Lions lost 3-2 to nearest competitors Ross County last Saturday, suffering a heartbreaking stoppage time defeat having fought back from 2-0 down, and followed that up with a 3-1 defeat at home to Motherwell in midweek, having led 1-0.And that has left them seven points adrift of the Staggies at the foot of the table.A trip to Perth to face fellow strugglers St Johnstone arrives this afternoon and a clash in the capital with Hibs on March 16 is followed by home tests with Celtic on March 31 and Aberdeen on April 6, before they head back to Edinburgh to face Hearts in the final game ahead of the split on April 13.So Martindale says it is imperative his side stay within touching distance of those around them to give them the best chance of beating the drop.He said: “There’s five games until the split and we need to be going into that being, at worst, three points off the pace.“All going well, we could go in there level or we maybe pick up nine points because I don’t believe there’s games where we can’t pick up points.“Celtic and Aberdeen at home and Hibs away are all difficult games but we are more than capable of getting something from them.“Our short term objective is to get to matchday 33 [on April 13] a bit closer than we are now and, once we get into those last five games against all the teams around us, anything can happen.“Going up to St Johnstone, their park is not in the best of shape so it will be a difficult game of football to play in.“Craig Levein [the Saints manager] has got them well coached and made them