GARY HOLT is adamant Livingston have learned lessons from their agonising away days.
The Lions manager reckons his side paid the price for chasing all three points when they went on the road last season, citing last gasp defeats against the likes of Hamilton and St Mirren.
Livi ended the 2018/19 campaign with the worst away record in the Premiership, winning just ONE of their 19 league games.
And while the West Lothian outfit survived by an impressive 23-point margin on their return to top-flight football, that was almost entirely built on their formidable form on their own patch.
Holt is candid enough to confess that his own ‘bravado’ may have played a part in that – and believes allying his natural ambition with a more pragmatic approach could pay dividends in the coming campaign.
Livingston are on their travels for the first time in the Premiership this term to face St Johnstone on Saturday.
“There was probably a wee bit of bravado on my behalf, but I think we can win every game,” said Holt. “I’ll be honest, I think that’s what cost us last season a wee bit.
“When you look back – and we have looked at it – I believe we can go toe to toe with a lot of teams and win the game. But I should maybe have shown them a bit more respect in certain aspects.
“That’s not to say I disrespected them but maybe I’ve been thinking: ‘We can go toe to toe with St Johnstone, Motherwell or Kilmarnock away from home and beat them’. But they are tried and tested teams top-flight teams.
Panic
“We need to earn the right in every game and have more of a structured game-plan for every game – things like how not to panic in certain situations, how to approach games if we go an early goal behind and maybe not being so open at times.
“That comes from learning and being in those situations. Hopefully, I’ll have learned from last season because I think we played some really good football in games – and lost them. In the last minute away to Hamilton, away to St Mirren.
“Sometimes you just have to take the draw and move on. I try to win games and I try to entertain – but sometimes it just doesn’t happen and you have to take it on the chin and realise that a point is as good as you can get.”
