Livingston boss David Martindale has called on the fans to play their part in helping the Lions get back to winning ways and says 'perspective' is needed following a run of four straight losses.
They head into tonight’s clash at home to basement boys Dundee United on a poor run of form but the gaffer insists the club are still punching well above their weight.
And he insists that while results haven’t been great, recent defeats have come down to fine margins.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: “It’s a wee bit of a blip just now but the boys have created this expectation - myself and the staff included - that we’re going into games expected to win.
“Aberdeen away, Hibs at home, these are games we’re disappointed not to be winning. Even Rangers at home, there’s an expectation that we can pick up points. We’ve had good chats with the guys over the last couple of days.
“If you strip the games right back, at Aberdeen they had one moment and scored and we had one moment and it got cleared off the line so there’s not much in the game.
“But due to the expectations and belief that’s been created around the club, we’re upset we didn’t win.
“The Rangers game, we gave away a soft goal with a needless penalty and we’re well in the game until the red card - which was a dubious decision.
“On Satuday we go a goal up and it’s a very competitive game. Even 2-1 down at half-time, I knew we could tweak a couple of things and get ourselves back into the game then you lose a man early on.
“When you actually look at each individual situation, that is what’s happened. It’s not a way to give anyone an out but there’s key moments which are often preventable that have gone against us.”
He added: “We’ve now got to the stage where we’re going into games expecting to win when in previous seasons we were underdogs. When you’re the underdog and get beat, it doesn’t impact you as much and it’s easier to deal with.
“When you’re expecting to win games and you don’t it can become difficult - and that probably goes for the fans as well because they have the same belief as the players and the staff.
“Do I want them having those beliefs and expectations? Of course I do, but I think we need to be careful in how we manifest that and make sure we do it in the right way and it’s helping the boys on the park - myself included.
“We need to try and be level-headed and be pragmatic about it all. If we were sitting 10th for the majority of the season and finished seventh it’s seen as a great season.
“Sitting in seventh now after being in fourth place for a spell, it’s seen as disappointing and we’ve hit a blip. I’d argue this is the only real blip we’ve had all season but we’ve got to be big enough and ugly enough to deal with it and move on.
“We’re sitting on more points now than we were last season. Sometimes perspective is needed.
“Hopefully the fans can understand that we’re still punching well above our weight and they can play their part in helping us get out of this sticky spell. Having their support really helps the boys and can make all the difference.”
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