3 days ago
Blaney keen to make up for lost time with Livi
Shane Blaney had injury troubles last season and he wants to put that behind them by staking a regular starting slot with Livingston.
The Irishman came off the bench after 14 minutes to replace crocked Danny Wilson as Livingston beat Falkirk 3-1 in their first home match back in the William Hill Premiership last Saturday.
On Sunday, it is near neighbours, Hibernian, who visit the Home of the Set Fare Arena, fresh from their aggregate victory over Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Europa Conference League after extra time at Easter Road on a heady night before over 19,000 fans on Thursday.
Livingston have had an entire week to prepare and 26-year-old Blaney feels that the West Lothian combine are coming off a good result against The Bairns.
The Letterkenny-born, central defender is looking forward to Sunday's clash with Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup and said: 'We are taking it game by game. You can't get ahead of yourself, every team is very good so we need to be ready for Sunday and treat it right.
'Hibs have been looking good this year. It will be a really tough game, but we are a good team as well and we have shown that so far.'
The 6ft 3in player, who started his career with Finn Harps in 2017 and then moved to Doncaster Rovers before going on loan to Tamworth, Grantham Town and Blyth Spartans, is enjoying working with Livi boss David Martindale.
Blaney, who has also played for Sligo Rovers and on 43 occasions for Motherwell, added that Livingston enjoyed a really positive pre-season and taken that into the league.
The West Lothian club have also, he said, showed resilience, coming back from 2-0 down against Kilmarnock in their league opener at Rugby Park.
He described Irish football as being similar to Scotland and added: 'Saturday's win (over Falkirk) was huge for us and it has all been good so far. We must make sure we play the way we want to play (against Hibs).'
Martindale's men were promoted via the play-offs and Blaney said the gaffer wants his squad to carry on from that success.
Looking back, Blaney said last season was 'really frustrating' through injury and he added: 'I have been out for a long time and the gaffer (Martindale) showed faith in me to sign and I want to play every game, the same as very player. I hope I can stay fit and healthy.'
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