Livingston captain, Nicky Devlin, admitted to the trouble he had when facing Celtic earlier in the week. It seems Ange Postecoglou’s motto, ‘We Never Stop’, seems to have rubbed off on the Celtic players, as Devlin confesses to the mental strain put onto him and his teammates due to Celtic’s relentlessness during their match during the week.
Wednesday night’s clash at Celtic Park, saw Livingston handed a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Celtic. Despite a few scares and a consolation goal, Livingston remained generally chasing shadows, as Celtic were heavily dominant in possession, corners, and shots at goal. This appeared to take a toll on the Livingston skipper, who admits that the constant pressure was mentally draining.
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As reported by Edinburgh News, the Livingston skipper said: “It is almost like a mental fatigue you get playing Celtic. They are relentless. It seems like the ball is always in play, it never seems to be out very often. When you come off you are mentally tired because of the concentration you need to have. Celtic are waiting for someone to switch off and then you are in big trouble. So, physically it takes it out of your legs but I think it is more of a mental fatigue.”
“I don’t mean you don’t have to work as hard (against Hibs) but it is not going to be as intense. And for us, we only have a two-day turnaround which is quite quick so hopefully, it won’t impact us too much. So we are looking forward to the game on Saturday. It will be a different challenge but one where we think we can go and win the game.”
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“When you compare Celtic to anyone, you think you will have more of the ball. But we still know how difficult it is. They haven’t been in great form but they were good against Rangers at times and caused problems going forward. So they will have that threat and for us, it is about dealing with that threat and having more of an attacking approach compared to the Celtic game and when we get the ball, can we cause problems for Hibs?”
So, it appears Nicky Devlin is fancying Livinston’s chances against Hibernian as he is expecting a huge drop in intensity. Clearly, Celtic’s performance on Wednesday night has taken its toll on Devlin as he is seemingly glad to not be facing Celtic this Christmas Eve.
That’s why our anger questions referees that allow time waisting teams at home even give ballbouys the day off behind the goals no roller on ground for a week wed ref was seen moving livingstone players especially the goalkeeper at the hurry up I just hope other referees do the same cause the are not helping there self get to s higher level sacrificing there careerers for hate of one team