I'll bounce back insists Livi keeper Tony Bullock after debut to forget

Jul 29 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

Tony Bullock

TONY BULLOCK had a debut from hell against Queen’s Park at the weekend – but the new Livi keeper has vowed to make it up to his team-mates by leaving them in Co-operative Cup heaven on Saturday.

The Englishman endured a day to forget on his first competitive appearance between the sticks for Livingston.

He was caught out of position for one of the goals in the 3-2 ALBA Challenge Cup defeat at Hampden and compounded his dismal day by being sent off for handling the ball outside the box.

He said: “Obviously, I was very disappointed with my debut. As debuts go, it was the worst I’ve had in my entire career and one of the worst games I’ve played in a long time.

“It was a great finish for their second goal but I should have cleared the ball and taken the pressure of Chris Malone at the back.

“If I’d have put the ball into Row Z, then they wouldn’t have scored and we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.

“At the sending off, it was just a reaction when the ball came to me, but I shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.

“I take full responsibilty for our defeat. It was a bad performance but one I want to put behind me and move on.”

Bullock arrived at Livingston from Dundee in the summer with a strong pedigree and bags of experience and the veteran shot-stopper has proved to be a safe, capable pair of hands over the years.

However, at the moment, he admits to being unsure whether he will be suspended or not for the Co-operative Insurance Cup clash with Ross County this Saturday.

He said: “I’m not sure at the moment what suspension I’ll face and I don’t know if I’ll miss the next cup game or if it carries over into the Challenge Cup next season.

“We have two very good young goalkeepers here in Craig McDowall and Darren Jamieson. I think very highly of both of them, so if I’m suspended then either of them can come in and do a job.

“I’ve a few friends up at Victoria Park and it’ll be nice to go back to my old club.

“It’s going to be a tough game and Ross County had a fantastic season last year, reaching the Scottish Cup final.

“They had a tough match last Saturday against Elgin who showed you can get at them, which is what we’ll be trying to do.”

Livi’s new No1 believes a win against County could also boost their Second Division title bid.

He added: “Winning breeds confidence, so we want to win on Saturday and take that on into the league a week later.

“It’s nice to be in a cup, but the Second Division is the most important thing for us.”