Livi skipper Liam Fox in hunt for more title glories

Jul 22 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

LIAM FOX led Livingston to title glory in May — and the Lions skipper admits he is dreaming of doing it all over again next season.

Livi’s captain fantastic was bursting with pride when he lifted the Third Division title trophy at the end of last season and he is desperate to repeat that feat with the Second Division silverware next year.

“It would be nice to get my hands on another league title come the end of the season,” said Fox. “I’ve a lot of good memories from last season and those memories – and medals – are what you play football for.

“We’ve landed the tag of favourites again but we’re used to that now. All we can do is just focus on taking each game as it comes and let the other sides say what they want.

“We want to get off to a better start than last season, as we’re stepping up a level.

“The teams and players are of a better standard, so our aim is to start well.”

Fox has endured a stop-start pre-season and may not be fit for Saturday’s curtain-raiser against Queen’s Park at Hampden in the ALBA Challenge Cup first round.

But the skipper has vowed to shake off a niggling groin strain to reclaim his place in the side sooner rather than later.

He said: “I’m having a few problems with my groin just now but I don’t think it’s anything too serious.

“I felt something go just before the Spartans game. I managed to recover well and played half an hour last Saturday in Northern Ireland.

“I trained on Monday but I felt it tighten up again, so I’m just being careful with it and we’ll see how it goes.

“I’ll need to assess how I am over the next couple of days to see whether I will play a part on Saturday.

“I have my fingers crossed that I’m able to play but the other boys have played a lot more football than I have.”

It has been a good pre-season for the West Lothian club, who have won three and drawn two of their warm-up matches.

The first four friendlies were played away with the Lions only home fixture being Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw with Oxford.

And for Fox it was a welcome return home to the sight of their title triumph.

He continued: “It was nice to be back at Almondvale for the first time since winning the league.

“The pitch was looking OK, but a bit sandy. It was nice to be back and Oxford gave us a proper test.

“It was a good run-out for the boys and I think everyone will be pleased with the performance.”

Livingston’s charge for Second Division title glory has been boosted with a quartet of new signings.

And the captain has revealed all four new faces have slotted into the squad well.

He added: “They’ve been fantastic on and off the pitch and the whole squad enjoyed a trip to Belfast last week, which was great as it brought everyone together.”