Livingston boss David Martindale heaped praise on debut keeper Shamal George - but admits the stopper should have done better for Rangers' second goal as the Lions fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Gers on Saturday.
Livi opened the scoring on five minutes through Joel Nouble but their defensive resolve was eventually broken on 72 minutes as Scott Arfield headed home a Ryan Kent cross after the visitors had peppered efforts on George's goal throughout the second half.
And the turning point arrived just two minutes later when James Tavernier fired home a free-kick from the edge of the box.
Martindale concedes the former Colchester United man's positioning of both himself and the wall played a key role in the ball finding the net but admitted it's part of the learning process as the 24-year-old gets used to the Scottish Premiership.
Despite that, the gaffer insisted the stopper kept them in the game.
He commented: "We’ve spoken to him about it. I thought he was a bit too central and the wall was a bit to his right. I said to one of the coaches that I could see where he (Tavernier) was going with it.
"There’s a couple of Rangers players a metre off our wall. It’s a wee bit of naivety and a welcome to Scottish football. We did a lot of work with him and gave him clips on Tav but there’s a big difference between watching it and being up against it.
“In hindsight, should we have had another defender in there? I think we should have. We should have locked that area of the park off with the two Rangers players which then allows Shamal to take a step to his left and he probably saves it.
“But the big man kept us in the game also. He made some very good saves.
“He can be happy with his performance and it’s something we can work on but it won’t be just Livingston talking about Tavernier’s free-kicks this season, I’m sure.”
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