WHEN the time comes for Marvin Bartley to hang up his boots and look back on his career, he'll hope Saturday's defeat to St Johnstone will be little more than a footnote in his battles against the Saints.
If anything, the Livingston captain believes it could be seen as the crucial moment more fuel was added to the Lions' fire ahead of this month's Betfred Cup final.
St Johnstone emerged the victors from the weekend's warm-up act, ending Livi's 14-game unbeaten run and leaving a timely chink in the armour of David Martindale's side ahead of the Hampden showpiece.
While some pundits will argue it has given the Saints the upper hand for when the teams meet in Glasgow, Bartley is sure it could have the opposite effect.
"Hopefully they become complacent and thinking that they’ve beaten us and ended our run," Bartley, 34, said. "Hopefully they just think they only need to turn up in the final and they’ll do the same thing. But we’ll be a different animal.
"We suffered a few defeats at the start of the season. It’s always disappointing to lose games.
"The one thing we have to look at is the run we’ve been on. We have to be proud of that.
"No one can take that away from us. Yes, we’ve lost the game and you should be disappointed but a 14-game run prior to this was absolutely fantastic.
"That’s what we reminded ourselves of in the dressing room
"Yes, we lost the game and the three points but we should be proud of the run."
With Hamilton, Dundee United, and St Mirren all to come before Livi get their shot at revenge, Bartley has targeted a new winning run as the perfect way to rebuild momentum.
"The message is just to try and start another run," he said. "That’s what football is about.
"It’s easier when you are playing and winning or not losing. This is when you find out about our character.
"What you don’t want to do is lose one then lose two or three. We want to start another run. It’s very important we do that."
One man who'll be doing his best to ensure February becomes a month to forget for Bartley and co. is Scott Tanser, the St Johnstone wing back whose fine free kick set his side on the way to all three points on Saturday.
It was a moment of real quality in a match full of energy and endeavour but too often lacking in the killer pass and the 26-year-old believes the victory could play its part when the teams meet in three weeks' time.
"It's a big one because we have ended their unbeaten run, which was impressive and someone had to do it," the Englishman said. "With it coming up to the cup final as well we have made a statement that we are going to stand up to them and hopefully, we will bring the trophy home.
"I practice free kicks a lot because I'm on them, so I'm ready for them when they come along and Saturday showed that. Hopefully, I can score the next one too.
"I spotted a gap in the wall and personally I thought the keeper gave me too much room. I spotted the gap and I knew if I could get it over the wall and hit it with pace it was going in and that's what happened. When you get too much room, it's quite easy to direct it.
"We had a team talk before the game and we knew it would be a battle and we knew that as long as we matched that, our quality would show through and by coming out with the three points we have definitely shown that."
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