Liam Fox: I don’t know if I’ll still be a Lion next season

May 5 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

LIVINGSTON skipper Liam Fox has led Livingston back to the First Division with two straight league titles but he says he doesn’t know if he’ll be around the lead the charge into the new season.

The midfield ace has played a pivotal role as the Lions roared through the bottom two tiers of the game following demotion but he has admitted talks to extend his contract, which expires this month, have hit a snag.

He said: “I’ve had my ups and downs here at Livingston and we were obviously all devastated when we were demoted and we could have gone away and just accepted it but we fought back and it shows the character of the boys.

“Now it’s all about enjoying it because days like today don’t come around very often.

“To be honest, I don’t know if we’ll get one next year but you never know.

“There’s a chance I’ll still be here but we’ll just have to wait and see as there is a bit of a difference between us. I have been offered a contract and I’m desperate to stay as I love the place. Livingston have been good for me and I hope I’ve been good for them.

“But I’ll worry about that stuff next week.”

Fox, who is now third in the list for most appearances for the club, explains winning the Second Division title means more to him than the Third Division — partly because it didn’t really sink in last time.

He continued: “I think it is a better feeling because the standard of the opposition had gone up. I don’t think I really took it in the first time, when we won the Third Division, but this time we’ve done so well.

“I think this season we’ve been even more impressive and we’ve had to live with – and get used to – the tag of favourites every week, and we’ve done that.

“It’s a fantastic spirit in the team and that comes from the manager and his assistant. Winning breeds confidence and we’ve been winning but also doing it the right way.”

The skipper had been a big doubt to play on Saturday but he was so desperate to play on the day they were handed the trophy, he took a painkilling injection to make sure he was part of the Lions’ title celebrations.

He said: “I was desperate to play today and took a wee injection to make sure I could as I’ve had a bit of a groin problem. The celebrations were a bit mental but the boys have deserved it.

“We were a wee bit sluggish in the first half against Dumbarton but we had to dig out another point today but, with the chances we had, we could have had more but that’s done now.”