New boss about to test Lions’ strength

Jul 9 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

JOHN MURPHY will get his first taste of life in the Livingston dugout this weekend when his side take part in their first pre-season run out.

The new Livi boss has arranged a closed doors match with Falkirk at Almondvale on Saturday and he admits to being keen to see how his side perform against the SPL side.

He said: “We are looking forward to getting out on the pitch on Saturday and have prepared well for it. I am going to take the opportunity to watch Falkirk before our match as they have a friendly against Airdrie.

“This will give me the chance to get an idea where they are at.

“We have been training well now for 10 days and the group is looking really good. Our test results came back very positive and with better fitness levels than I expected.

“We’ve built on that with a mix of double training sessions and single ones on other days.”

Murphy also revealed the club have a handful of trialists training with them at the moment.

Hoping to win a deal at Almondvale is former Livi loan star Patrick Noubissie who is available on a free after an ill-fated spell with Hibs.

And Murphy reveals he is confident of luring a few new faces to the club in time for the new season.

He added: “We have a bunch of trialists in which is typical for this time of year but I’m only looking for guys who I feel will improve the quality of the group.

“I’m very happy with the squad of players I have here and I won’t bring in players with similar qualities to those already here.

“We have to be creative and not use a lack of resources as an excuse. We should be able to find players either on free transfers or loan deals or by simply bringing them through our youth academy here.

“I do feel we need someone to boost us at the back while I’d also welcome an additional striker and we are in the process of looking at players for these positions now.”