Gary Holt feels Livingston ethos remains unchanged despite summer turnover

Livingston manager Gary Holt feels the battling ethos of his squad remains intact despite the summer turnover.

Livi have lost the likes of Liam Kelly, Declan Gallagher, Shaun Byrne and captain Craig Halkett from the squad that led them to success over three seasons.

Seven signings have arrived, including former Ayr pair Nicky Devlin and Robbie Crawford, and Holt thinks a pre-season trip to Hungary has helped them gel.

Holt, who could add more new players, said: “The club were great in facilitating us to go away for a week in Hungary, which was brilliant: living with each other, getting to know each other, and the training sessions were very good.

“It was good for banter, it’s good for camaraderie and it’s also a togetherness about what they do off the pitch as well as on it.

“We still have the nucleus, we still have the staff, so we set the environment. We don’t bring in too many mavericks, too many bad apples that cause hassle, because you have got to do your job.

“You try to bring in the same type of people, the same mannerisms as the rest of the group, so you know they are going to get in the trenches and fight with you.”

FourFourTwo Staff

FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.