Livi v Inverness.Teusday.

Difficult to assess this.On the one hand do wee put out a strong team so as to keep the momentum going despite the fact that we could silly bookings or even worse injuries to vital players.Or on the other hand err on the side of caution by sending out a handfull of our fringe players thus taking away any doubts we may have.As someone else has said our fringe players must be champing at the bit to get a chance to show Hoppy what they can do.Caley have to go for this to have any chance albeit slim of making the playoffs and in doing so could make them vulnerable to our counter attack.Its an interesting one and i look forward to seeing how Hoppy goes about this.In any case il be there to cheer the lads on once again and hope they send wee Robbo back up the A9 with their tails between their legs.Cmon the Lions Do it!!!

I'd field the strongest available side unless someone is in danger of a suspension from a booking.

I suspect Hoppy will change it up a bit though.

I reckon it will be a draw.

Liv 2 ICT 2

FG 22 mins

I'd take a draw to keep our momentum going, but I still think we should rest up key players like Pittman and Byrne for this though, no point playing everyone in 2 games this week when we can afford to rest some.

Players like Frizzell, Keaghan, Mullin, Robinson are more than capable of doing a good job and winning this game, and they could benefit from getting some game time before the play offs. Then fire in a full strength team against Utd on Sat to keep the momentum going and giving everyone a run out before the play offs.

We need to strike the balance between giving players a break to get them in 100% physical shape for the play offs, and not have them losing their sharpness, giving some a break from playing on Tues would do that imo.

Anyway, I still think our fringe players will give us enough to win this, and ICT will be running on empty by now, playing their 9th game in 4 weeks, 2-1 Livi, fg 23 mins.

Call me paranoid but I'd rather rest key players in the United game than this one.

Not saying they would but hypothetically it would be really worth someone trying to get one of key central defenders sent off in the United match as they would be banned for the fill semi final. We've all seen players deliberately trying to get other sent off and the rewards for doing this at this time could be enormous.

It take one heavy coming together and for then one of the players rolling around on the ground like they've been poleaxed and bobs-yer-uncle - one red card. United aren't a Dunfermline or Falkirk so I might be worrying unnecessarily but can we really take the chance?

Utd may well decide to rest up players in that game with them having to play their play offs games the following week, but I doubt they'd be doing that. More likely Gallagher would get into it with Mohsni, and both would get red cards.

We should be resting players and it would be interesting to see a line up like this:


Can't imagine Hopkin would go with it though but it should be a case of keeping everyone match sharp which I'm sure he'll do.

Livingston 1. Inverness 1. FG 31 mins.

Sorry but playing Maley in goal is like giving them a two goal lead.

If you want to rest Alexander then bring in Pettigrew; least-ways then the lad manages to get some first team time.

Do we really need to rest Alexander, not sure what rest a goalkeeper needs when he rarely comes out of his 18 yard box, or is it more a case of leaving him out so he isn't in any danger of being injured. And if we were doing that we'd be as well leaving him out of the Utd game too.

Or just tell him not to be going in for any 50/50 balls where he can get hit. But when you start going in half hearted or being over cautious you know what'll happen, he'll go over on his ankle when he walks over to get a drink from his bottle of water.

I don't think there's any harm in giving Maley game time. Granted it was a weaker league but he got minutes after we won the league last season and there's always that risk of injury to Alexander or any other player in a game where it should be mainly about keeping players sharp.

1-1, FG 43 mins.

2-1 Livi, FG 38 mins.

Felt like a pre season game tonight, or a pre play offs game, that competitive edge was missing, esp in front of goals.

Decent enough energy and some nice passing play in the first half, we prob should've went in ahead with the chances we created, mostly to Mullin, but that cut throat finish just wasn't there. Neither was our usual directness from back to front, and we also didn't have our usual goal threat from set pieces.

Cracking goal from ICT though, fell perfect for them and it was a good strike. As much as the game didn't matter it still felt shite losing, but the main thing was giving players a run out and nobody getting injured. Noticed Hardie pulled out a 50/50 with the keeper when he was played through, can't blame him, wasn't worth scoring if he got injured, we need him fit for the play offs.

Can't see Saturday being much different, roll on the play offs.

Aye. Don't think Maley is up to standard for this level, poor kicking most of the game and a bit of a bomb scare otherwise. I thought we played some good stuff going forward apart from the finishing.

Didn't think we deserved to lose the game. Good goal from their POV but poor from ours.

Oh great - we could be in trouble again.

Not sure if Scottish regulations are the same as Englad but down there if you make more than five changes form your previous STARTING lineup then you can be fined of have points deducted.

Durnford wrote:Oh great - we could be in trouble again.

Not sure if Scottish regulations are the same as Englad but down there if you make more than five changes form your previous STARTING lineup then you can be fined of have points deducted.

Just found this (again its England but here's hoping):

Since 2011, teams have been allowed to field any combination of their 25 man "match day" squad without fear of reprisals from the Premier League. Previously to that, teams were fined (relatively) small amounts for infringements, for example Blackpool in 2010 or a suspended fine for Wolves in 2009. Teams can in theory still be punished if they field weakened teams with players from outside their 25 man match day squad.

Wouldn't pay any notice to some wallopers on P&B, we were a hell of a lot more competitive than we were in the 3-0 away defeat against Utd when most of our players were still recovering from the flu and Maley had to play in goals.

Liviforever wrote:Wouldn't pay any notice to some wallopers on P&B, we were a hell of a lot more competitive than we were in the 3-0 away defeat against Utd when most of our players were still recovering from the flu and Maley had to play in goals.

Actually it wasn't P&B - I did it to myself; carries out a search which listed off sides that had been penalised. I dint notice that all of those werre prior to 2011.

Was it after reading Pars fans on the wind up moaning about us fielding last night's team that had you wondering by any chance?

We all expected Hoppy to do that, can't have been a surprise to anyone, why would he field our best players in a game we had to play midweek when we'd already secured 2nd place. Isn't anything new, managers do it all the time during a season when there are more important games to play. Everyone that played has already played in other league games, not as if we'd brought in a load of kids from the the development squad, feck the Pars or anyone else not happy about it. Besides, we only lost by a goal, and actually played better than them for most of the game, created more chances too.

Didn't see anyone moaning when we were fielding the walking wounded against Utd and got humped 3-0. Tough chookies they have still something to play for in the last game and can't just field a load of fringe players themselves, and rest their best players for their play offs Utd.

it used to be an issue when managers selected players other than the recognised first XI but in these days of first team squads & more than half a team to choose from to make substitutions it shouldn't matter a jot.

If Pars fans are genuinely whinging they can't be very confident of beating Dumbarton & given their GD superiority they only need a draw; if they fail to achieve that then they will get what they deserve.

Josh Mullin played himself into contention for the games coming up. If he starts on Saturday and puts in a good performance, I don't see why Hopkin shouldn't seriously consider him for the semi-finals.

LiviCub wrote:Josh Mullin played himself into contention for the games coming up. If he starts on Saturday and puts in a good performance, I don't see why Hopkin shouldn't seriously consider him for the semi-finals.

Agreed - I thought Josh played well although he could have shown a bit more composure in front of goal. Hardie also had three of four good chances which, on another day, he would have buried.

I also thought McMillan did pretty well; difficult to see from wher I was but can someone confirm it was him with the Lithgow-esk long throw?

Buchanan didn't appear as composed playing on the right side as he has been playing on the left. He did okay but with ICT's powder-puff attack its difficult to be categorical.

Longridge was okay but seemed unsure as to what position he was meant to be playing; whether as a winger or a wing-back or a fullback. To be honest it didn't appear the the guys had spent much time checking out the formation before the game.

Robinson was another one whose actual intended position was difficult to gauge; drifting from midfield to the wing to attack and then turning up in defence.

De Vita played well but really needed some luck with his shots at goal.

Gallagher was taking long throw ins, didn't notice if McMillan took any.

Can't remember clearly how their goal came about, it happened right at the start of the 2nd half and I wasn't paying much attention till I saw the ball come out of our box and drop perfectly for their player to have a dig. Good shot but there wasn't anyone in front of him putting him off, or blocking him from shooting, I wouldn't expect that to happen with our usual set up of Byrne and Pittman in midfield, and Lithgow, Halkett and Gallagher in defence.

Hardie has been superb since joining but he clearly benefits from playing alongside Miller, it frees him up more and allows him to get forward looking for space to exploit.

Agreed about Mullin, looked much more like his earlier season self, needs to get some composure when shooting but again, normally Hardie would be right up there with him available for a pass, and he wouldn't need to be having a shot himself.

Liviforever wrote:Gallagher was taking long throw ins, didn't notice if McMillan took any.

Can't remember clearly how their goal came about, it happened right at the start of the 2nd half and I wasn't paying much attention till I saw the ball come out of our box and drop perfectly for their player to have a dig. Good shot but there wasn't anyone in front of him putting him off, or blocking him from shooting, I wouldn't expect that to happen with our usual set up of Byrne and Pittman in midfield, and Lithgow, Halkett and Gallagher in defence.

Hardie has been superb since joining but he clearly benefits from playing alongside Miller, it frees him up more and allows him to get forward looking for space to exploit.

Agreed about Mullin, looked much more like his earlier season self, needs to get some composure when shooting but again, normally Hardie would be right up there with him available for a pass, and he wouldn't need to be having a shot himself.

Their goal was a speculative shot from distance; which really should have been saved but unfortunately Maley was slow to react although he had visibility of it almost all the way. Leastways Gary can now say he's played a full game in the Championship be please lets not repeat the experiment on Saturday.

Should have had a penalty in the dying minutes when Hardie was yanked down in the box. Same old. How many times this season?

Was at the game, as was I on Saturday.
I thought live created more chances( Than they did on Saturday V Brechin) and played a better passing game in the first half. Was it the fact the players on display are natural footballers.
Thought young Frizzell showed great appetite and an eye for a pass.
He will come good once match fit both physically and mentally. A few loose passes but always showing and being creative.