Iain Russell: Weekend off will give us chance to regroup

AFTER suffering another defeat last Saturday against table-topping Ross County, it’s becoming an increasingly frustrating time to be Livingston player.

Performances have been good but whether it be poor refereeing decisions, poor finishing or defensive mistakes, we are just not producing the right results at the moment.

It is hard to comprehend considering we were playing so well against these same teams earlier in the season and getting positive results.

What has changed? Nothing in particular, this is just football. All it might take is for us to perhaps play very poorly and sneak a 1-0 victory for the tide to turn and for the confidence to start building again.

This weekend is the Scottish Cup fifth round and, unfortunately, we are not in the competition after losing to Ayr in the last round. It is so disappointing not to be involved especially in the current climate where the cup competitions are so wide open. For the club itself, it is lost revenue and a chance of pulling Rangers or Celtic out the hat which can balance an SFL club’s books for many years.

I guess as a squad we will to have to try and use this free weekend as a positive thing and look at it as time away from the stresses of league duty. It may not be a bad thing that we don’t have a match although it will definitely not feel like that at the weekend.

Saturdays are for playing football and it is a strange feeling when not preparing for a match. We will be in training instead and then maybe go and watch a game elsewhere, but this is not the same.

When we return on Monday it will be a fresh start.

There are still 15 games left of our season. This is still a hell of a lot of football to be played and there are many points up for grabs.

Starting against Partick Thistle at The Braidwood Motor Stadium on February 11 we will be looking to get back to winning ways. Our home form was something we could always rely on and we were unbeaten there for so long.

Also we have already beaten the Jags at home this season courtesy of a Kyle Jacobs injury-time winner and therefore know we can beat them.

I hope the Livingston fans enjoy the weekend off too and come back to support us through this difficult period.

The supporters have been fantastic throughout the season and we need the continued backing of our loyal fans more than ever.