Ross County manager Malky Mackay has known nothing but tight encounters against Livingston – and he expects nothing different at Almondvale on Saturday.
Since Mackay took charge at Victoria Park in summer 2021, only one of the six meetings between the sides has been decided by more than a single goal.
On that occasion – the last time the teams met in January – County spurned a number of glaring chances to take the lead before Livi triumphed through two late Bruce Anderson strikes.
Mackay expects fine margins will once again separate the sides in West Lothian this weekend.
He said: “It’s always a tough game.
“It’s on the artificial surface which we’ve all got used to. I would rather not play on it, but that has nothing to do with the weekend.
“Playing against them, no matter whether it’s in Dingwall or down there, has been tough over my two years here.
“You’d find in all of the games between myself and David (Martindale, Livingston manager), there has hardly been anything in the game, and I don’t expect anything different from that this time.
“They have chopped and changed in the last couple of weeks, so the team won’t be as settled as David Martindale would want it, but I think we’re all in the same boat.
“Everyone in the division has little bumps, and ups and downs.
“If I look at some of the goals they have let in, they will be goals that David probably can’t believe they have lost, with deflections and things like that.
“I looked at one at Parkhead and 99 times out of 100 that would never go in again.”
Martindale ‘punching above weight’ at Livingston
Although Livi come into the game without a win from their last five matches, Mackay sees Martindale’s side as a formidable opponent.
He added: “David has done an incredible job at that football club.
“This season again, there has been recruitment on what I would imagine – I don’t know – is a budget that has them punching above their weight.
“If you don’t work hard, you don’t play in his teams, so that’s the starting point.
“I know quite a lot of players there who have come through Scotland teams with me.
“I have no doubt that we’re in for a tough encounter at the weekend, but it’s one that I’m looking forward to as well.”
Staggies desperate to get back to action
County have been out of action since their 2-0 loss to Motherwell on March 4, with their exit from the Scottish Cup leaving them idle during last weekend’s quarter-final line-up.
Mackay, who is without the suspended Jack Baldwin and Owura Edwards, is relishing the return to Premiership action.
He added: “If I’m being honest, I would have liked to have played again three days later.
“It has been a little stop-start, and we’ve got an international break coming up in a couple of weeks as well.
“Off the back of the result – but not the performance – against Motherwell, I would have loved to have got a game three days later.
“We are really looking forward to the weekend.
“We’ve got 10 games to go. I’m relatively happy in general with the way we are playing.
“We are creating chances at the moment. We know exactly what we’ve got to do – we’ve got to get points on the board just like everyone else.
“There’s a very steely focus as to what we need to do.”
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