BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
LIAM Buchanan has confessed the Livingston players let themselves down in succumbing to relegation from the Championship – but has urged the Lions to ‘come back stronger’ next season.
The West Lothian side finished a lowly second bottom in the league and lost out to Stranraer in an incredible 8-6 aggregate defeat in their two-legged play-off semi-final.
Relegation leaves the Almondvale outfit facing an uncertain future, with question marks hanging over their financial stability, full-time status and the position of manager David Hopkin, who took over from Mark Burchill in December for the remainder of the campaign.
But Buchanan, who penned a two-year deal when he joined from Alloa Athletic last summer, is hopeful the club can bounce back from the huge body-blow suffered at the weekend.
He said: “We’re bitterly disappointed that a season that we hoped would bring so much ended with the massive low of relegation from the Championship.
“The league table doesn’t lie. Over the season we, as players, let ourselves down and never reached the consistency we had the potential for.
“It’s going to be a long summer and one of ‘what ifs’.
“But we have a young squad who will learn from these experiences and hopefully it will spur them on to achieve something in the game.
“We must come back stronger, dust ourselves down and be ready for an almighty challenge next season.”
@IainCollin
