Marvin Bartley has message for people who have written off Livingston

Marvin Bartley has told his Livingston players to pay no attention to those who have already written them off as relegation certainties.

The Lions are nine points adrift of Kilmarnock – who they visit on Saturday – and St Mirren in their increasingly forlorn-looking bid to beat the drop.

Livi have not won a game since August, although they have shown some signs of recovery in drawing each of their last four matches, including at home to title-chasing Rangers and away to Hibernian.

“People have opinions on everything,” said Bartley. “We listen to what’s being said in here, and ultimately we concentrate on what we’re going to try and do on a Saturday.

“Because in other games that have come before, at Easter Road, people would have written us off.

“Then against Rangers, people would have written us off, 2-0 down against Dundee, people would have written us off, 1-0 down against St Mirren, ‘oh, they won’t come back’.”

Bartley remains steadfast in his belief Livi can get themselves off the bottom.

“Everything’s within our own hands at this moment in time,” he said. “Three more games before the split, then we have five games after the split, so there’s more than enough points to get out of this situation.

“If we don’t get out of this situation, it’s over to us. We’ll be held accountable for it, and rightfully so, because we should be doing better, we understand that.

“If we overturn 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.”