“We have had two tough games these last few days.

“We have had to kick our heels for 19 days and watch everybody else get up and running.

“We have got minutes into the boys’ legs and got six points from six against two tough opponents.

“It was tough today, it wasn’t easy.

“We don’t expect it to be easy, every time that we play Livingston we have never had it easy against them, even though we have a very good record against them. Today, I thought we started the first 10 minutes well, I thought we got Marley into the game, he had a very good debut. And then we stopped playing.

“We got sucked into a game that we didn’t want it to be. We had our hands full with them. They get the ball forward quickly; they ask a question and they are in your face. We were too concerned with that and we forgot to play and keep passing. I was disappointed with the first half performance, apart from the first 10 minutes.

“We got in about them at half time, we made a couple of little subtle changes, but the biggest change was that we started to move the ball. You saw that with the build up to Lewis’ penalty and for Scott Wright’s goal.

“I thought for 10 minutes after that it was our best spell in the game. I thought we had control in the game, Dylan helped us with that when he came on and Marley had a chance to make it 3-0. The keeper has pulled off a brilliant save.

“I am disappointed with the goal that we lose. It gives them energy and belief and I thought we looked like a tired team towards the end.

“I am delighted that we have got the job done and I couldn’t be more pleased with the players effort over the last couple of days.

“I can’t see a handball (penalty incident Livingston were claiming late on). Obviously, the camera angle doesn’t allow you to see anything there. I am far from convinced that it is a handball and I don’t think the referee can see it that way and that is why it is not given.

“Six points out of six it gives us encouragement for the season ahead. The squad is getting stronger, men are coming back which helps us. Marley was exactly the type of striker that we wanted, he is the type that can play with the likes of Cosgrove, Main and Edmondson. Getting him in was a great bit of business.

“Scott McKenna was sick at half time. I think he will be okay for Tuesday’s training. We wanted to get Hoban back there, but he had a bit of tightness in his thigh and we thought 45 minutes would put him at risk. We put McCrorie down one so thankfully Scott is okay as is Tommie and I thought Ross was excellent.

“Niall took a knock against St Johnstone. He was still pretty sore and tender on Saturday morning, so we ruled him out. He is getting scanned tomorrow. We are not anticipating too much going on there, but we are hoping that settles for Thursday’s game. Niall has always been a key player for us especially in-home games in Europe, so we are keen to get him back for that one.

“Bryson felt his calf in the warmup. We are in danger of some of the boys who have not been involved and not training, we are maybe in danger of over training them this week. Craig felt a bit of tightness in his calf. I don’t think it will keep him out of Thursday’s game.

“Niall is the only one who would be a doubt for Thursday.

“We have watched everybody getting back playing with envy and we have been desperate to get back. We had a pre-season of seven and a half weeks and we were desperate to get going. We were disappointed with our own performance against Rangers, we then have to wait 19 days and take a kicking. We have been trying to get some positivity again and the best way of doing that is winning.

“We scored two good goals today, we could have scored a couple more. It could have been a bit more comfortable for us in the end but at this stage of the season it is just about getting all three points.”