Landi hopes McPake will sign new deal

Nov 13 2008 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

ROBERTO Landi has urged the Livingston board to move quickly to tie skipper James McPake down on a long-term deal.

McPake is out of contract in the summer and can talk to other clubs from the New Year.

But Landi hopes the classy centre-half will remain at Almondvale to lead the Lions back to the SPL.

“He is our captain and a player who has a big future in football and I hope he will be with us for a long time,” said Landi.

“I hope he will stay and improve with us and help us into the Premier League.

“I don’t know what will happen but I hope he stays. We need to keep players of the standard of McPake, Dave Mackay and Leigh Griffiths here at the club.”

An injury ruled Griffiths out of Livingston’s weekend draw at New Broomfield and the teenager had a scan on his injured left knee this week with the outcome revealing he requires surgery and is facing a month on the sidelines.

“We need a forward now as at the moment we only have one in Callum Elliot. Raffaelle De Vita is still injured but we hope to welcome him back between January and February so we are in need of some cover.

“We are currently close to the top of the table and need to maintain that.

“But there are still seven games to go until the transfer window when things may change and it could be too late to bring in a striker.”

On Saturday Livingston completely dominated Airdrie at Broadwood but could only manage a 0-0 draw. Landi reckons his side would still be top but for a run of bad luck.

He continued: “The results against Clyde and Airdrie were both very disappointing because we were the better side and created five or six clear chances to score.

“If we had those five easy points which we lost then we would still be on top of the league.

“But that’s football and I must say the players are playing very well and it is pleasing for a manager to see his side create so many chances.

“We have been unlucky and I think that luck is one of the most important things you need to win the league.”

Next up for Landi’s Lions are Dunfermline and the Italian is expecting a tough match.

He added: “We have a big match against Dunfermline who are a very strong team and are close to the top like us.

“They will be fighting hard for a win after losing to Dundee last week and we will give them maximum respect.

“We want to stay at the top and as close to St Johnstone as possible so we will be playing for a win as well.

“People shouldn’t forget we still have to play St Johnstone twice and they will be a big six points to play for.”