David Martindale says he 'expected more' from players after Livingston defeat to Motherwell

Livingston manager David Martindale warned his players that he expected more from them as the Lions attempt to end a miserable run of 22 William Hill Premiership games without a victory.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Motherwell has left the West Lothian side six points adrift of second-bottom Kilmarnock at the basement, with Livingston still searching for their first victory since last August.

Aside from an early chance from Connor McLennan that was saved, Martindale’s side never looked like troubling a slick Motherwell team who are continuing to go from strength to strength.

Martindale is not shy in taking responsibility himself for his team’s woeful run of form but has called out the players and insists he needs extra effort and quality from them.

Martindale, who watched Tawanda Maswanhise hit a first-half double for the visitors, said: “I’m trying to take the pressure off the players if I’m really honest, trying to take the pressure off them and put it on me.

“But it’s individual errors that are costing us games of football.

“Our inability to defend our box is causing us real, real problems but I’ll caveat that by saying the top end’s got to be better.

“On the run we’re on, these things become a lot harder; running, pressing, passing, looking after the ball, playing safe passes.

“When we’re winning games of football, you’re probably getting an extra 10 per cent out of all your players.

“When we’re losing games of football, which we are, you probably lose that 10 per cent.

“It’s bridging that gap, but it’s up to me to find a way to do that.

“I think I’ve sat here and taken it most weeks. I think the players need to do more because the first goal is shambolic and the second one’s not much better.”

After Livingston wasted a good chance from McLennan early on, Maswanhise headed Motherwell in front in the fifth minute before coolly placing a shot past Jerome Prior in the 28th minute.

Motherwell have won four of their last five league games to strengthen their position in fourth and manager Jens Berthel Askou was in the main happy with his team’s display.

He said: “It was either really, really high level or all the way on the other end of the scale.

“There was not a lot of in-between because the nature of the pitch can be a little bit difficult and also their approach to how they defend with a lot of man-on-man and stepping up and creating a lot of space for us to be tempted to exploit all the time.

“We needed to find that balance a little bit better in the second half.

“But we controlled the game from a defensive point of view, dealt with their set-plays, counter-attacks and forced them out in the wide areas where they had the ball a little bit but never really allowed them into the centre of the pitch where they could have created some bigger chances.

“So overall, I was really pleased with how we controlled the game.”