
Are Livingston favourites in play-off with County?
Scottish Premiership Play-off final, first leg: Livingston v Ross CountyVenue: Home of the Set Fare Arena, Livingston Date: Thursday, 22 May Kick-off: 20:00 BSTCoverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & BBC Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app, highlights on BBC Scotland & iPlayer from 23:00
The top-flight team has generally had the edge when it comes to Scottish Premiership play-off finals, but is it true this time round as Ross County travel to face Championship runners-up Livingston in Thursday's first leg?Which side goes into this as favourites?"At this moment in time, I've got to say Livingston," says Cammy Bell, who tasted Premiership play-off final defeat with Rangers against Motherwell back in 2015."Livingston are winning games. They are used to winning this season. Ross County have gone nine games without a win. That's a long period of time."
It must be spirit sapping for County to be going into this tie on a run of seven defeats and two draws as they finished second bottom, four points adrift of Dundee. Livingston, in contrast, are flying into the final after a convincing 4-0 aggregate semi-final victory over Partick Thistle, having narrowly lost out in their title race with Falkirk.While the Highland side are aiming to extend their six-year stay in the top flight, Livingston are aiming to bounce back at the first time of asking after relegation last season.One comfort for County is that history is certainly on the side of the Premiership team.There have been 10 Premiership play-off finals. Only three Championship sides have triumphed to make that leap upwards.However, Livingston have experience as one of those three promoted clubs. They were winners in 2018, replacing Partick Thistle in the top flight.The size of the gap between Premiership and Championship sides is an oft-debated topic.Although it has been a tough season for County, their players have been honing themselves against a generally higher grade of player all season and that must count for something.Livingston, though, can point to plenty of players within their ranks who have plenty of years of rich Premiership experience – the likes of Stevie May, Ryan McGowan, Danny Wilson and Scott Pittman have all impressed in the top flight over the years.When it comes to recent on-field evidence of contests between the two divisions, Livingston lost 1-0 at home to St Johnstone – who finished bottom of the Premiership – in their Scottish Cup quarter-final back in March.Tellingly, however, Livi beat County in the same competition back in January. That was a 3-2 victory in Dingwall as Andrew Shinnie scored the winner in the final minute of extra time.Former Dundee captain Cammy Kerr knows the territory when it comes to both Premiership and Championship.The Queen's Park defender believes Livingston pose a major threat to the Premiership side."Livingston have a clear identity," Kerr told Sportscene. "They go at teams, they have been a lot more attacking this season in the Championship. "For me, it is a mentality thing. Livingston are on the up. Ross County are the total opposite. It does play a part."The 16 goals from Ronan Hale in all competitions will give County hope. The Northern Ireland striker has also scored in their past two matches.Defence is more of an issue. It was 1 March the last time the Dingwall side kept a clean sheet.As for Livingston, continuity has been the theme with the same 11 starting the past five matches.However, could experience in this particular fixture be key for County?This will be their third Premiership play-off final in a row.Back in 2023, they virtually rose from the dead against Thistle. The Glasgow side were 3-0 up on aggregate with only 20 minutes of the second-leg still to play.In one of the greatest comebacks ever seen in Scottish football, the Staggies regrouped to score three goals before delivering the knockout blow on penalties.Last season was a far more comfortable affair for County as they thumped Raith Rovers 6-1 on aggregate.However, that Rovers team looked like a side that had run out of steam. The same cannot be said of Livingston.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The National
6 hours ago
- The National
Celtic 'eye' cut-price move for 16-goal Sweden international
The 23-year-old plies his trade for Danish top-tier outfit Nordsjaelland. Nygren is on Brendan Rodgers' radar, claims SunSport, who say that he could be available for as little as £2 million, given that he is out of contract in just six months. Read more: It is said that Celtic face competition from the likes of Anderlecht and Copenhagen to sign the creative forward. Nygren has excelled playing as a number 10 for Nordsjaelland, but he can also operate on the left or right wing. He scored 16 goals and assisted four in 32 Nordsjaelland appearances last season as they finished fifth in the Superligaen. Nygren has also registered four Sweden caps, scoring twice for his country. He has confirmed that he won't renew his contract at Nordsjaelland, which expires at the end of the calendar year. Celtic have been linked with a raft of players over the past 24 hours and more. Callum Osmand has reportedly agreed terms on a move to Parkhead, with the likes of Nilson Angulo, Sondre Orjasaeter and Michel-Ange Balikwisha all said to be of interest to the Scottish Premiership champions.


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Craig targets 'an exciting Paul Craig win'
Paul Craig is not just looking for victory but an "exciting Paul Craig" win on his return to light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting was scheduled to fight Brazil's Rodolfo Bellato on 17 May but the bout was postponed at short notice because of Bellato's medical issue. Their rearranged match takes place on Scot had moved from light heavyweight to middleweight in 2023 but secured just one win from six bouts."We didn't really get running the way we should've and we ended up fighting some of the best guys in the middleweight division, it didn't go our way," Craig explained. "There's a lot of moving parts in that, moving down to middleweight - nutrition, coaching, all these strategies we put into place."We had a chat with managers, with coaches, with nutritionists and we said, 'listen, it may be a good idea for this last push of Paul's career to be a light heavyweight'."And he added: "I can't wait to go back to my division and get a victory there. It needs to be about performances. You're not going to get a title shot by just getting wins."It has to be exciting wins and that's what I'm looking for on Saturday night - I need to get a victory, but a Paul Craig victory. It needs to be something that gets people to stand up and realise that I'm back in the light heavyweight division."Craig, 37, says he is "pretty proud of what I've achieved in the UFC"."It's been a long career, I've had - 20 fights in the UFC alone," he told BBC Scotland before the next event in Atlanta, Georgia."Anywhere in the world, not only in Scotland high streets, it's anywhere in the world people recognise me." 'Much better version' four weeks on Bellato vacated the Legacy Fighting Alliance light heavyweight title when he signed with UFC in 2023 and Craig says both competitors will have found the four-week delay to their match-up difficult."We train to peak at the exact time of a fight," he explained. "It's really hard for your body to kick back in. Some of the challenges, we've never really faced before."I do believe we're a much better version of where we were four weeks ago. It's just been a blessing. Everything kind of happens for a reason, it's part of the plan."If I found it hard, then he's going to find it even harder. He was already worn down by the time he made it to the final last time in Vegas. We're expecting a lesser version of what we would've got four weeks ago. He's a very pressured fighter, looks to land heavy shots and he's a hard hitter."[We] need to make sure our footwork is good, we're switched on with that and use the distance manipulation to control this fight, ultimately resulting in us going to the ground and looking for a submission."

The National
9 hours ago
- The National
Saliba and Arsenal stars react to Tierney's Celtic return
The left-back's move to join the Scottish Premiership champions on a free transfer from Arsenal was announced on Tuesday afternoon. Tierney has penned a five-year deal upon rejoining his boyhood club. When his move was announced on Instagram, Ian Wright, who played for both Arsenal and Celtic, simply commented six love heart emojis. Read more: Oleksandr Zinchenko said 'All the best bro', as Thomas Partey left a series of emojis. William Saliba wrote 'Good luck my guy'. Tierney penned an emotional farewell message to Arsenal on social media this afternoon: "Full of emotions these last few weeks," he said. "To be part of this special club for 6 years has meant so much to me and I'm grateful for every single second of it. "To every member of staff and team mate l've had the pleasure of working with, thank you for everything you done for me. I'm so lucky to have worked with many amazing people who I learned so much from and helped me every day. "To the fans, what a journey these last 6 years have been. All I can really say is thank you for the support and love you've given me through the good and the bad times. I appreciated everything and never took any of it for granted. It's been fun. North London forever."