Neilson – The Focus Is On Getting 19 Points Clear

Head coach Robbie Neilson has spoken in more depth about our upcoming game against Livingston and he said nobody will be complacent as our task is to widen the gap on those below us in the table and try and get ourselves 19 points clear in the table.

Speaking to the Official Site, having already said briefly that it would be an incredibly tough and tricky game for us, Neilson said that with how the team had prepared in training he knew they would be ‘battling for every point’ in this game, and until the end of the season.

Having been to the Energy Assets Arena already, Neilson knows those experiences will more than prepare us for the challenge ahead.

‘The first game down there we got beat in the Petrofac Training Cup, and the second we scraped through with a 1-0. It’ll be a difficult game for us and it’s a big game for both teams.’

Neilson says that he scouted them on Tuesday evening when they faced Alloa and in his mind they ‘probably deserved to win’ and he knows they’ll be going all out to cause an upset for us.

‘It’s a good opportunity to go 19 points clear but that’s all it is at the moment. We need to make sure that we go down there and try and get the three points and work hard. There’s no complacency here. We must make sure that we win every game, and try to win every game by working hard.’

Even though we are now into the final stretch of the season, the gaffer said nobody was talking about winning leagues, or getting carried away with our league position because we’ve worked incredibly hard to be where we are this season, and if anybody thinks it’s job done or the title and promotion is ours, then the fantastic points gap we have built up will soon disappear…nobody can take their foot off the pedal until the final whistle in the very last game.

In terms of team news, new signing Kenny Anderson obviously comes into contention to make his debut, and Neilson said that the whole squad was nearing fitness for the first time in a while, so he has good options ahead of the game.

One player out is Prince Buaben who misses the game through suspension, but Kevin McHattie returned to training the other day and he pencilled in for a full group return for Sunday.

If we don’t pick up any additional knocks, we should go into next week with nigh on a full squad.