Landi bids to overcome loss of strike duo for Livingston

ROBERTO LANDI today told his Livingston players to forget about the simmering club v country dispute after devising a plan to play without his two recognised strikers, Leigh Griffiths and Calum Elliot, writes NIGEL SOUTHWORTH.

Griffiths will be absent tomorrow when the Lions take on St Johnstone at Almondvale after being called up to the Scotland U-19 European Championship qualifying squad, while Elliot is suspended.

A request to the SFA for Griffiths to be released from Scotland duty for one day was turned down, but Landi remains philosophical.

He said: "I would like to have had Leigh, he is a very important player for us, but it is 11 v 11, it is not all about one player. It is my job to devise a strategy for the team and I have been working on a plan this week. We have options, there are other players.

"For sure, it will be a very tough match. St Johnstone have been playing well, but we shall see."

However, Landi has hit out at the SFA for the way the governing body has handled the call-up, especially as Griffiths has only played 40 minutes of first-team football since August 30.

He added: "They did not phone me before they named him. He is not ready to play international football and that's why I am disappointed."