Livingston have the chance to move off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership when they face fellow strugglers Ross County on Saturday.
Wednesday 21 February 2024 15:13, UK
David Martindale believes keeping Livingston in the Scottish Premiership this season would be the “biggest achievement” of his career.
The West Lothian club are currently three points adrift at the bottom of the table but have the chance to move level with Ross County if they win in Dingwall this weekend.
They are looking to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time this season in their bid to secure their top-flight status.
County are without a league victory since December 5 but also have a game in hand.
Games against Motherwell and St Johnstone follow Saturday's trip to the Highlands and Martindale believes it is the most "significant period" of his time at the club as he insists he is not ready to settle for even second-bottom.
"It's probably the most significant period in my coaching career, if we keep Livingston in the Premiership this season then it will be my biggest achievement at the club," he said.
"That includes winning League One, getting promoted from the Championship and getting to a cup final.
"That's how relevant I find it, and again I'll go back to it, I think I was very vocal at the start of the season, speaking about how big a season I felt it was going to be. Granted I didn't think it would be that difficult, but we are where we are so I think it would be a monumental achievement from the players and the staff at the club.
"No (I wouldn't take 11th), I want 10th, I want ninth, I want to try and get as high as we can, so if you said to me we'd be bang on 11th right now then I wouldn't be happy with that. I think we want to try and achieve 10th or better.
Don Cowie will be in charge of Ross County again on Saturday after the former player was placed in interim charge following Derek Adams' departure.
It is a move that Martindale thinks has had a positive impact on the Staggies.
He said: "Don was a top player in his day, he knows the club inside out, he's probably giving them a wee bit of stability.
"Would I rather my direct rivals were in a wee bit of turmoil? Of course I would. With Don taking over and Derek deciding to leave, has that probably helped the environment? I'd imagine it has, it's only natural that that would happen.
"It doesn't really change my approach whether it was Derek or Don in charge, if I'm being honest, because I genuinely believe Derek's CV is very good and he is a good manager. But I just think with Don coming in it's probably helped that environment."
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