THE frailties of Livingston's squad were exposed during their 6-1 defeat at Queen of the South, but Chris Innes believes the foundations are there for the Lions to bounce straight back.
Coach Roberto Landi put midfielder Murray Davidson into the centre of defence to cover for injured captain James McPake, but the plan backfired and was abandoned around the half-hour mark with the home team leading 2-1, Dave MacKay's goal giving the
visitors a few brief moments of hope following a double from Stephen Dobbie.
Davidson resumed his usual position with substitute Cameron MacDonald slotting in beside Innes. But the home team scored at that most crucial of moments, with virtually the last kick of the half, when David Weatherston volleyed home from the edge of the box.
Leigh Griffiths was thrown on five minutes after the break but Queens sealed victory when Weatherston scored his second. Goals from Jamie McQuilken and Paul Burns sealed it and, to add insult to injury, striker Calum Elliot received two yellow cards.
Innes knows what it takes to win the First Division having done so with Gretna in 2006- 07, and he said: "We stumbled at Gretna (before clinching the title] because we lost a lot of our best players, people like Alan Main, Steve Tosh and Derek Townsley. The key is consistency. Our manager (Landi] has inherited a good squad with some very good youngsters. It also has the right blend of experience and there have been some good acquisitions made."
Landi said: "The problems start from me. The team is my responsibility and I'll learn from this. It was a very bad day for us."
The full article contains 285 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
