David Martindale glad of international break as he reveals scale of Livingston health concerns after Hibs loss

David Martindale insists the international break is coming at an ideal time for Livingston as he outlined the scale of the injury and health concerns affecting his players following Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Hibs.

Livingston boss David Martindale issues instructions to his depleted side at Easter Road

The Lions boss was forced to make three changes during the Scottish Premiership clash, revealing afterwards that one player had a diabetic fit, two others were sick at the interval and a fourth shouldn’t have started the game.

Only “seven or eight” were fully fit, he admitted.

"Bruce Anderson has been taken to hospital because he took a diabetic fit on the park and briefly passed out; he’ll probably be in overnight,” Martindale said.

"Max Stryjek and Jack Fitzwater were spewing up in the toilets at half-time. Fitzy tried to play on but we had to take him off. That’s why he ran off with his shirt up, because he was being sick."

Martindale also revealed that Rangers loanee Ben Williamson had been removed from the matchday squad late on Friday following concerns over a blood test.

He explained: “We did blood tests on Ben with him coming back from Covid. He was meant to be starting but got pulled out at 6pm on Friday under the advice of the Rangers doctors because of the troponin levels in his blood.

"Craig Sibbald started in his place but shouldn't have been anywhere near the park. Jackson Longridge [unused substitute] couldn’t have gone on the park; Sean Kelly [who replaced Fitzwater] shouldn't have gone on the park.”

Kelly sustained rib damage last week but was thrown on as the only left-sided centre-back in the squad with Tom Parkes sidelined, and he was turned by Kevin Nisbet for the opener as he “wasn’t up to speed with the game,” according to his manager.

"I feel a wee bit sorry for the boys. I’m not trying to make excuses but there were 11 players out today, and I had three or four on the bench that couldn’t go on the park. They were just bench-fillers for me.

"The seven or eight boys in that changing room that were fully fit gave it everything but the rest were struggling… I'm delighted we've got an international break coming up because it gives us a chance to get bodies back and give others time to recover.”

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