Stevie Tosh keen to stay on at Livingston

May 6 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

STEVIE TOSH marked his second spell with Livingston with a second league winners medal and admitted he was keen to extend his stay in West Lothian.

Tosher was part of the Livi squad who won the First Division title back in 2001 in his first stint with the club and now — nine years later — he has added a Third Division medal after starring in a six-month loan spell from Queen of the South.

Queens have confirmed they have released the veteran midfielder and Tosh admits he is unsure what the future holds for him.

He said: “It was great to win another league title and that's my seventh now which is nice. I came here at the end of January to try and get back playing again as everyone knows what happened to my leg earlier this season.

“It is always nice to win a league but I think you appreciate it more when you get to my age.

“I spoke to Gary (Bollan) at the weekend and he told me he is keen to keep me at the club for next season but he doesn't know if they will have the finances for me at the moment.

“Apart from that I'll be honest and I've no other plans at all.

“I've really enjoyed my time at Livingston but I need to take stock and my main issue after breaking my leg was just to get back playing.

“I've managed that and since signing here I believe I've only missed one game and two days training so fingers crossed there will be something there.”

Livingston have been the target of a series of pot-shots from a host of Third Division clubs this season, sniping at their full-time status in a league of part-time clubs.

But Tosh has some sympathy for them.

“It was hard for the part-time clubs as well though as they didn't expect Livingston to be in the Third Division but we couldn't do anything about which league we were put in either,” explained Tosh.

“All we could do was be as professional as possible and we set the agenda to win the league which they managed to do which the boys deserve credit for.

“And without being detrimental to the Third Division, the boys here are far too good for that level and if we hadn't won the league there would be something wrong.”

The curtain came down on a stunning season for the Lions with a narrow win over the Shire on Saturday but for Tosh the game was a sideshow for the after-match trophy celebration for the fans.

He added: “I felt the game was irrelevant to be perfectly honest with you. It would maybe have suited us a bit better if East Stirling had needed to get something out of the game but I think they came here looking after themselves for the next few weeks.

“It was a bit of nothing game and it was 90 minutes of waiting more than anything else. Again it showed how professional we are and we managed to get a win.

“We won the league a few weeks ago and the gaffer asked us to go on and finish the season with nine points which we managed to do. I think everyone was ready to knock Livingston as much as they could this season and it is testament to the boys here, especially those who were here all season, that they have managed to win the league by 16 points and I think they are deserved champions.”