Livingston boss pinpoints Celtic trio who might struggle

David Martindale has highlighted the unfavourable effect that he believes fatigue can have on Celtic’s performance against his side at the Tony Macaroni Arena this weekend. The Livingston manager appears to believe that with the Hoops playing their first Champions League game of the season in midweek, it may have a negative impact on their performance in West Lothian.

It is unclear how Celtic will recover and respond to the 2-0 defeat against Feyenoord. But with Brendan Rodgers at the helm, the Hoops have a manager with experience in dealing with the European schedule.

Another element Martindale feels can be crucial in his side getting a result is the inexperience of a number of Celtic’s summer signings in the Scottish game in regards to playing at Almondvale Stadium. The Scotsman did also point out though that there will be a large number of Hoops fans in attendance to cheer on the defending champions.

As reported by the Daily Record, Martindale said:

"“There is a mental energy, mental fatigue, not just the physical side of it after playing in Europe. You have to try and use every advantage you can. I thought the atmosphere was brilliant, it’s a stadium I’ve never been at but it was a brilliant stadium, hostile environment, Champions League tune – it’s hard not to get yourself up for those games – even as a fan sitting watching it it’s brilliant.“Let’s be honest, the synthetic surface, we all want to play on hybrid surfaces of course we do, you have to try and use all these advantage, positives in our favour. When you go away to Parkhead, the surface is slick, 55,000 fans and it’s a big park. The use that to their advantage and we have to try and swing that round to our advantage.“There’s players at Celtic who have not played here before, the boy (Luis) Palma, (Odin) Holm, (Gustaf) Lagerbielke, they are leaving Feyenoord and that environment and coming to Livingston on Saturday. Although they will be helped by 8,000 Celtic fans being in the stadium so it will feel like a home game to them.”"

Livingston boss pinpoints Celtic trio who might struggle

With Celtic not having to play any European qualifiers this season, it has meant that Rodgers’ side have not faced the usual fixture schedule that previous sides have in August. Historically, the Hoops have not had the easiest of times away to Livingston and will face a tough test against Martindale’s team.

They have won their last two matches at the Tony Macaroni Arena though, showing that in recent matches the Glasgow giants have been able to find form on the synthetic grass pitch. Rodgers will be more than aware of the task his side will be up against, having drawn 0-0 against Livingston back in 2018 in his only visit to the West Lothian side’s stadium.

With players like Matt O’Reilly and Kyogo Furuhashi in scintillating form in recent games, Livingston must have concerns over whether they can neutralise them. On the other hand, the Celtic defence has also gone under the radar this season with Joe Hart having kept the most clean sheets in the Scottish Premiership despite questions over his future. They have not conceded in their last three league games.

One player who will be out to prove something at Almondvale is Reo Hatate, after a somewhat underwhelming display against Feyenoord. Hatate did look impressive in his cameo appearance against Dundee FC though and the more game time he gets the fitter he will become and most importantly regain the form that saw him earn a place in the PFA Scottish Premiership team of the season last year.