Livingston manager Richard Gough insists his side can turn around their fortunes with victory over Hearts tonight.
The Lions boss confessed he was the most embarrassed he had been in 25 years in football after Saturday's 4-1 defeat at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Gough bemoaned his side's lack of commitment against the Highlanders as they spurned the chance to move off the foot of the Bank of Scotland Premier League.
However, Gough has refused to get too downhearted and has drawn on his experience as a player to try to lift his players' spirits ahead of the rearranged clash with Hearts. He said: "I knew when I came here that it was going to be very, very difficult. We were bottom of the league when I came and we are still at the bottom."
"But we are not detached. It is all doom and gloom but if we win this game we are off the bottom of the league, it can change very quickly.
"I remember getting beat 4-1 as a player, against Ajax and Juventus and teams like that, so I know how the players are feeling just now. They should be feeling very disappointed and want to play the next game and move on because if they get a result in this game everything is all right again."
Gough has brought in five new players since taking over from predecessor Allan Preston last month, with Hungarian trio Ferenc Horvath, Gabor Vincze and Attila Kriston joined by on-loan Watford youngster Jamie Hand and Middlesbrough midfielder Mark Wilson.
But with only Frenchman Marc Libbra leaving the club, Gough has admitted some more players will have to go in the coming days to balance up the squad. Gough, however, would not be drawn on speculation surrounding skipper Burton O'Brien and defender David McNamee and claims he will be happy when the transfer window closes.
He said: "I have only had five or six weeks here and the team is at the bottom of the league. I am just trying to bring in people to freshen things up. I will be quite happy when February 1 comes and I have got 18 players or whatever to work with. It is better for the team when they know that is the group of players I will be working with."
History of the Livingston v Heart Of Midlothian fixture
Livingston prepare to entertain Heart Of Midlothian at Almondvale Stadium on Tuesday evening, and hold the advantage on previous meetings between the two. Of the 5 games played, Livi have recorded 2 wins, and Hearts have come away with 1 victories.
The most recent encounter between these two sides at Almondvale Stadium was less than a year ago, in February 2004, with Hearts inflicting a narrow 2-3 defeat upon the Livi in a Scottish Premier match.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2004/2005 | Sun 03 Oct | Hearts | 0 - 0 | Livingston | SPL |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 17 Apr | Hearts | 1 - 1 | Livingston | SPL |
| 2003/2004 | Tue 24 Feb | Livingston | 2-3 | Hearts | SPL |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 01 Nov | Hearts | 3 - 1 | Livingston | SPL |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 08 Mar | Livingston | 1 - 1 | Hearts | SPL |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 07 Dec | Hearts | 2 - 1 | Livingston | SPL |
| 2002/2003 | Sun 06 Oct | Livingston | 1 - 1 | Hearts | SPL |
Recent respective form guides
Livingston's home form is poor, winning just 2 of the last six, and losing the other 4. While Livi have scored 4, a worringly large 14 have been leaked at the other end.
Hearts's away form is none too clever either, losing only 1 of the last six, but drawing 4 of them. A generous 7 goals have been both scored and conceded in this period.
Livingston find themselves stuck right at the bottom of the division. Their 22 games have yielded only 16 points. Hearts's 32 points from 22 games sees them lie inside the top half of the table, in 5th position.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Livingston | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| Hearts | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
www.liviultras.com prediction - 1-1 (I wish)
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Livingston | Been beaten in each of their previous 2 home matches. Failed to win in previous 2 home matches. Latest 2 games ended in defeat. Not won in the 2 most recent games. |
| Hearts | Previous 4 away games have finished all-square. Not won in previous 5 away matches. 6 games since last defeat. |