DAVID Martindale tonight admitted he was disappointed that his Livingston team had been unable to beat an understrength Celtic side and record their first ever win at Parkhead.
The West Lothian club, bidding to rack up their ninth consecutive triumph, created several good scoring opportunities against opponents who were missing a raft of first team players.
But Scott Robinson, Scott Pittman and Efe Ambrose all failed to convert second-half chances and ended up drawing the league game 0-0 - leaving their manager Martindale frustrated.
“I've never had the feeling of leaving Parkhead disappointed we didn't win so it's probably a bit strange,” he said.
“We've been here and got a draw before, but potentially we had a fantastic opportunity to get three points today.
“I'll try not to dwell on the negatives. We've come to Celtic Park and got a point, we're still unbeaten and we got a clean sheet.”
Martindale added: “I need to watch what I'm saying because we play them again on Wednesday. Neil Lennon will use this in his team talk!
“I thought Celtic had some good chances as well and were a wee bit unlucky. But on the balance of play and opportunities created, we were more unfortunate not to get three points.
“No-one really dominated the game. On reflection, I'm a bit disappointed, but not surprised because this was still a very good Celtic team.
Martindale, whose team play Celtic at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Wednesday night in the Premiership and then St Mirren in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday, was encouraged by his team’s display.
“It's a big week for us,” he said. “The character my own players have shown is really encouraging. We're just focusing on the next one and we want three points. Hopefully the next one at Hampden will take care of itself.”
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