Goodwin hopes St Mirren will show their creative side against Livingston

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin hopes his creative players will finally be able to express themselves against Livingston on Saturday.

Goodwin admitted he had set up his team defensively to try to contain Rangers last weekend but plans on being more attack-minded against Gary Holt’s side at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Goodwin, whose side have also faced Hibernian and Aberdeen this season, said: “We’ll be a lot more offensive in this one. The forward players will get a bit more licence and we’ll hopefully be a lot more up the pitch than we were last Sunday.

“We can take a lot of things forward from our last three games like our organisation, structure and will to win. And protecting our goal needs to be there regardless of the opposition.

“But I’d imagine on Saturday we’ll have more possession than we’ve had in the last couple of league games. I’d expect us to be a bit more offensive and attack-minded. We need to be a bit more creative on the ball against sides like Livingston.”

Despite losing two of their opening three Ladbrokes Premiership matches, Goodwin believes there is plenty to be positive about.

He added: “We’ve taken great confidence from our opening three fixtures. For us to be sitting here with three points on the board, a clean sheet, and a goal difference of minus one when you consider the teams we’ve played against – there are plenty of positives to take.

“The players have shown they are willing to fight and scrap for every ball. Now we need to put the attacking side of the game together.”

Livingston are still unbeaten this season and Goodwin knows they will present another tough challenge.

He added: “I’ve watched their previous games against Motherwell, St Johnstone and Ross County. They are very well organised and a really hard-working team, physical at times. They get the ball in the box at every opportunity. They’re a better team than most people give them credit for.”

Stand-in captain Kyle Magennis felt the new-look squad had settled quickly.

He said: “There have been quite a few changes with new players and a new manager but you can see from the first three games that we’ve started the season well. We’re looking good and hopefully we can keep that going.”