Livingston boss David Martindale has heaped praise on the fans as the Lions are set to welcome a bumper crowd for Saturday’s league clash with St Mirren.
Livi have given away over 3800 tickets to local schools and organisations for the fixture and the gaffer believes the club are starting to get the recognition they deserve in the area.
Martindale likened the atmosphere at last weekend’s home clash against Aberdeen with the Premiership play-off fixtures four years ago and hailed the travelling support for making their Scottish Cup tie at Hearts on Saturday feel like a home game.
Speaking to the Courier, Martindale commented: “The fans have been brilliant of late. The game against Aberdeen felt just like the play-offs albeit with a smaller crowd.
"My daughter usually watches the game inside but she sat in the stands for the final 20 minutes and the first thing she said when I saw her afterwards was 'dad, that was amazing'.
"Mo, our chef, is usually working during the game but she said she was walking along the corridor and was hearing all the fans and the noise and couldn't help herself. Two minutes later she's in the crowd shouting at the referee. It's brilliant to hear things like that.
"At Tynecastle you’d have thought there was 12,000 of them. They were amazing and it’s something the players feed off.
“Then off the back of those two games, we’re going into this fixture against St Mirren with a phenomenal response on the ticket giveaway.
“We’ve honestly been trying everything over the years. We’ve been giving tickets to community clubs and schools but they were never really used.
“Maybe there’s a bigger appetite for football now given all we’ve been through over the last couple of years but there’s real signs of a breakthrough within the community and their support for Livingston Football Club.”
He added: “It felt for years like we were just never going to increase the fan base but you can see now that the club has been run properly and there’s been a real push to try and get fans back into the stadium and supporting Livingston.
“I can see light at the end of the tunnel now to be honest.
“It’s important to get that atmosphere in the stadium. The players deserve that for all they’ve achieved and have more folk appreciating this club’s success.
“We’re all really thankful for the support and looking forward to playing in front of the bumper crowd on Saturday. Hopefully we can put on a performance they’ll enjoy.”
The gaffer admits the clash is a ‘big’ one for both clubs as the duo battle it out for a top-six berth whilst also having to look over their shoulder to ensure they’re not dragged back into a relegation battle.
He commented: “It’s a big game for both ourselves and St Mirren but you want to be wary of overplaying the significance.
“It would be a vital three points if we can get them but we know it’s pretty much two teams who are evenly matched and there won’t be anything in the game.”
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