Stuart Lovell has watched Celtic and Rangers have their noses bloodied this season - but still admits it will take a "minor miracle" for Livingston to make the final four of the Scottish Cup.

The Livi hero - who captained the 2004-winning side - knows David Martindale have also taken their fair share of bruising defeats this season but reckons in the cup there is always a chance for a shock.

And while rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, Lovell reckons a trip to Parkhead could be the perfect distraction for his former club.

The former Australia international mused: "No one in the country expects them to get a result and it’s maybe a very good distraction for them at a really challenging time of the season.

"It’s a one-off, different mentality and people have bloodied the noses of Celtic and Rangers in their own back yards this season. They have to take confidence from that.

"As a manager you’ve got to try and think about what’s going to make them uncomfortable and it’s Celtic’s own back yard.

"They’ve got the crowd behind them, which is a huge advantage. So how can you flip it on its head and say ‘if it’s still 0-0 after 20 minutes, the crowd aren’t going to be happy’. They’re coming to see a glut of goals and expecting to see Celtic steamroller Livi.

"If Livi are able to set their stall out and make themselves hard top break down and get to the 20-25 minute mark try and catch their breath - which is always the difficult part - then of course the advantage for Celtic with the home crowd behind them becomes a disadvantage. Then you can play on that."

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Lovell has been surprised by Livingston's Scottish Premiership struggles this season with the club six points adrift at the bottom of the table.

But the pundit has no doubts that the squad are still playing for manager Martindale, even if things aren't going quite to plan.

He said: "This is Livi’s sixth season in the Premiership and I don’t think they haven’t had a single season where they’ve looked like they’ll get relegated. They’ve not been sucked into the play-offs.

"I think it was a bit of a shock to the system for the players and the manager too. They’re always saying their aim is tenth and anything beyond that is a bonus.

"But they’ve been a top six side, they’ve reached domestic cup finals. I’m a little bit surprised at how much things have come off the rails this season because I saw them win at Easter Road back in August.

"When people say they aren’t playing for the manager I’d say I think they are but they make fundamental mistakes in their own box and the biggest weakness is I don’t think they cover enough threat going forwards.

"Albeit it that has changed a bit in the last month with Tete Yengi coming in and chucking Bruce Anderson alongside him who is a finisher.

"They’re going to need a minor miracle at Celtic Park, that one of these two guys pops up with a goal then it’s a 4-6-0 and maybe it might be enough."

Lovell still recalls his Scottish Cup triumph at Livingston as if it were yesterday. Now, going on 20 years, the Australian vividly remembers the horrendous atmosphere after cuts following administration before utter jubilation with silverware against the odds.

"We were playing a Hibs team that had done all the hard work," said Lovell. "When you think they had Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Gary Caldwell, Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor. They had guys who went onto have phenomenal careers but it was maybe just a bit early for them.

"I’d say they had half a good team because some of the players around them weren’t maybe up to it.

"We had a very solid unit and very experienced group of players and I remember we’d been through a very bad experience with the club having gone into administration just a number of weeks beforehand.

"We’d been through the worst of it a day or two before we’d played the semi-finals against Dundee at Easter Road. That was when all the cuts came in and it was a pretty savage atmosphere to work in.

"I remember feeling incredibly confident going into that game because I felt we had real experience throughout the squad.

"It was a great moment for the club 20 years ago. It still feels like yesterday."

 

 

 

Stuart Lovell was promoting Viaplay’s live and exclusive coverage of Celtic v Livingston on Sunday. Viaplay is available to stream from viaplay.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.