David Martindale hopes Livingston can capitalise on any fatigue in Rangers ranks

David Martindale is hoping Livingston can capitalise on any fatigue in Rangers’ ranks after their Europa League defeat by Genk on Thursday.

The toiling Ibrox side, who sit second bottom of the Premiership after failing to win any of their five games so far, suffered another demoralising result under Russell Martin when they lost 1-0 at home to their Belgian visitors while playing more than half the game with 10 men.

“You’re playing against a team that’s played like 72 hours previous,” Martindale told Sky Sports. “So I think that’s always good when you’ve not played.

“Whether it’s Europe or just a domestic game, I think it’s always difficult. But they’ve got a big squad, there’s a lot of international players within that squad, so they’re capable of handling those demands.”

Martindale played down any notion that this is a good time to play Rangers despite the perception that they are in turmoil under Martin.

“No, not at all,” he said. “I’m trying not to comment on other clubs, if I’m honest. I just want to come up this year and focus on Livingston. I don’t really buy into the narrative that they’re not in a good place.

“I think they’re in a transitional period. We’ll still need to be at our very, very best if we want to try and get anything from the game.”