Who are The New Saints’ Irn Bru Cup opponents Livingston?
With TNS set to face Scottish side Livingston in the Irn Bru Cup Round Two this Sunday, we take a look at there team and the players the Welsh champions need to watch out for.
Livingston are a Scottish professional football team currently playing at the 8,700 Almondvale Stadium (currently called the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship reasons) and are based in Livingston, West Lothian. They were founded in 1943 and were named Ferranti Thistle until 1975 when they changed their name to Meadowbank Thistle. During the Meadowbank Thistle period, the club played at the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. The club relocated in 1995 changing their name to Livingston F.C. and they moved into the Almondvale Stadium
Livingston, nicknamed The Lions were relegated to the Scottish League One at the end of the 2015-16 Scottish Championship after losing to Stranraer in the Scottish Championship play-off semi-finals and were replaced by Ayr United. The club got promoted back the following season after winning the 2016-17 Scottish League One title.
Who is the manager?
Their manager is former Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leeds United midfielder David Hopkin who made nearly 300 appearances in his career. He took charge in 2015 after leaving Greenock Morton after a year as a caretaker.
A big loss for the Lions
This season Livingston will be without top goalscorer Liam Buchanan after the Scottish forward departed the club club and dropped down a division to join Raith Rovers. The 32 year old scored 12 goals and got 5 assists in 17 games in all competitions last season and has scored 31 in 71 over the 2 years he was at the club. His absence will be a big blow for them during the season as he has already scored 5 goals in 8 games for his new club.
Some notable former players,
Some notable former players include who played for Livingston former Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Alexander (who recently returned), Celtic and Scotland striker Leigh Griffiths, Norwich midfielder Wes Hoolahan and Aston Villa (on loan from West Ham United) winger Robert Snodgrass.
Players TNS should watch out for,
Josh Mullin
Winger Josh Mullin signed for Livingston in 2016 from Albion Rovers. In 2015-16 he played 16 games overall scoring three goals and four assists from the wing. So far this season Mullin has played 9 games and has looked impressive on the assists getting four so far.
Danny Mullen
Mullen made 18 appearances last season for Livingston scoring six goals and creating five in all competitions. So far this season he has made seven appearances scoring once and has got two assists to his name.
Nikolay Todorov
Bulgarian striker Todorov is currently on a second year loan at Livingston from Heart of Midlothian and had a decent season last year. The 21 year old scored 2 and got 1 assists last season and started this season off good getting two goals in six games.
(Featured Image: Daniel0685)
