Holt hails Lawless after midfielder’s goal moves Livingston up to third - 7M sport

Holt hails Lawless after midfielder’s goal moves Livingston up to third



Posted Sunday, September 16, 2018 by PA

Holt hails Lawless after midfielder’s goal moves Livingston up to third

Gary Holt has hailed the quality of Steven Lawless after a moment of magic from the mercurial midfielder ensured Livingston maintained their 100 per cent record under their new manager.

The 27-year-old scored the only goal of the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Hamilton in spectacular fashion, unleashing a stunning drive from the edge of the box beyond the despairing dive of Gary Woods.

Holt has now enjoyed three successive victories since replacing Kenny Miller at the helm of the Lions, however, he readily concedes that he was less than thrilled as Lawless prepared to pull the trigger.

“I was actually telling Steven ‘go beyond, go beyond’ as the ball came out to him,” smiled Holt. “Then he decided to hit it. I guess he shouldn’t listen to me! It’s a hell of a finish and wee Stevie has got that in his locker. It was fitting that goal won the game.

“Although he is playing as a wing-back, we are trying to use Stevie in a more attacking sense because he has the qualities to hurt the opposition.

“We’ve asked him not to just stand out on the wing – come in and play as a number 10 or an extra man in midfield. He is getting there and grasping that challenge. That’s what we want, boys who are willing to learn and hungry to get themselves into good positions.”

The scoreline could have been more handsome, with Craig Halkett striking the post in the second period and Dolly Menga coming close.

Nevertheless, Livi – tipped to endure a relegation battle in so many quarters – are now in third place in the Premiership, level on points with Celtic.

“It’s been five games,” smiled Holt. “It’s good while it lasts and we’ll take it, but I certainly know we’ll lose games as well as win them.”

Hamilton failed to lay a glove on their hosts as they suffered a third defeat in a row, failing to force a serious save from Livi goalkeeper Liam Kelly.

And boss Martin Canning admits they must address those failings in the coming days.

“We lacked that spark, that creativity in the final third,” said Canning.

“Ultimately we have lost the game to a fantastic finish but in terms of performance we didn’t do enough to take anything from the game.

“It’s frustrating. We’ve got good players but they need to take the ball in better than we did today. We will have to work on that and get better for next week.”

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