Brian Rice has revealed Livingston couldn't train on Tuesday because of a nasty sickness bug that shut the club down.
Luckless Livi already prop up the Scottish Premiership table and sit six points adrift of second bottom Ross County. It would take a remarkable end to the season to see the West Lothian club survive in the top-flight.
They face Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday and have been dealt the worst possible preparations with as many as five first team stars battling an illness.
Rice, who was taking media duties while manager David Martindale is earning his UEFA pro licence in Switzerland, admitted he’s still in the dark about who will be available for the trip across to the capital.
"We had to shut the club yesterday because there’s been a bug running through the club," he confirmed.
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“Holty missed out last weekend because of the bug and it’s spread. We’ve got four or five off today so it will just be a head count over the next couple of days to see who is available.
“Hopefully we can get two or three of them back, but at this moment in time I couldn’t tell you who is going to be available and who is not.”
Livingston, who have won just one of their last 21 league matches, have been boosted by the arrival of striker Tete Yengi. The on-loan Ipswich star has scored five goals from his 10 Lions appearances and Rice was eager to praise the Australian.
“We were creating chances before Tete came in, but we just weren’t taking them,” said Rice. “He’s come in and taken his chance.
“We thought he would be a bit-part player between now and the end of the season and it would be next season before we got him up to speed, but getting a couple of goals early on has helped his confidence.
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“He’s been a godsend for us at this moment in time. He’s got a bit of everything. He’s big, he’s strong and he’s pretty quick so he’s an out-ball for us and he’s showed he can score goals. He’s given us something different that we didn’t really have and that’s helped us.
“You can see with his build that he’s never out the gym and he’s coachable. He wants to learn and he’s at an age where he is only going to get better.”
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