Livingston may well have produced a magical performance to put five past a talented Ayr United side and guarantee at least second place in the Championship, but manager David Martindale is under “no illusions” about the scale of the task still awaiting his Livi Lions in their quest to get back to the Premiership.

The West Lothian club still have a mathematical chance of popping Falkirk for the title, but the extra week’s rest earned from finishing second is like gold dust to Martindale.

The freshness in the squad was evident with midfielder Stephen Kelly the talisman for the home side with a sensational first half brace to get the home side off to a raucous start, either side of a Robbie Muirhead penalty after Cristiano Montano was fouled in the box.

The Colombian Montano added a fourth with ten minutes remaining with a five-star flourish added in injury time with a stunning Reece McAlear volley.

“I’m under no illusions how difficult the playoff games are going to be whether it is Ayr, where it’s Partick, Martindale stated. “I don’t think that game out there’s going to count for much going into them.

“So I need to be careful in what I’m doing there, because you need to go into the playoffs with the strongest squad possible, but I also need to make sure I’ve got the integrity of the league. Playing that also, wanting to make too many changes going into the next game cos that can have an adverse effect on the opponents that you are going to be playing or the opponents that are relying on you putting a strong team out.

“So I need to get that balance right and the rest is a difficult one, if I’m honest. It’s a difficult one because you’re second, you’ve got two big games coming up still. There’s still a lot to play for in terms of our own points. Self-esteem, the confidence, but taking that momentum the playoffs, managing suspensions and then you’ve got a week’s grace again and then you’re into the playoffs. But what I will say is it’s really difficult finishing third or fourth to try. I don’t know if it’s been done. I don’t know if it’s been done before, if I’m honest.

“It is manageable, but just because if you look at the schedule, it’s Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday, Friday. See that second Friday, that fourth game, it’s a big ask and there’s more just the psychological impact. There’s an emotional impact on that. Physical, psychological, emotional. There’s also that energy attached to that.”

Kelly took just six minutes to break the deadlock when he netted from a Scott Pittman assist and Livi increased the lead through a Muirhead penalty after goalkeeper Harry Stone took out Montano in the box.

On the stroke of half-time Kelly netted again at a corner with a fine volley, before Montano stroked home from six yards 11 minutes from time.

A stunning first-time effort from McAlear in stoppage time sealed a stunning win.

It puts Livi at least in pole position to face the side sitting 11th in the Premiership in the play-offs next month and Martindale added: “I’m looking forward to it. We’re going into a wee bit momentum behind us, but there are big games and you’re really no under any pressure at that point. You’re no under any pressure cos the pressure’s on 11th.

“The pressure’s all on the 11th team to make sure they stay in the Premiership. But I wouldn’t have liked to be the Premiership team playing in the playoffs in terms of that negative momentum, that negative energy going into these games and you’re playing against our team.

“I’ve just really enjoyed being at Livingston this year, competitive budget and trying to engage with football and that it’s re-energized my approach. Six years in the Premier League, pushing water up a hill, trying to not get beat. It’s difficult. So I feel, this year as a group, Livingston, as a group, the club, it’s allowed us to grow a wee bit and it’s allowed us to develop.

“And I think hopefully you can see that fruition on the park as the season went on about how good a squad we’ve got. And we can play through, we can play around you, we can play over you. So I’ve got a wee bit of everything. So hopefully we take that positivity and that momentum into the playoffs.”

Match details: Ian Steven

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