David Martindale says Livingston’s shock win over Ross County in the Scottish Cup fourth round could prove to be the difference in him being able to strengthen his squad in chasing promotion back to the top flight.
Livingston, third in the Championship, caused one of the shocks of the fourth round as they defeated their Premiership hosts 3-2 in Dingwall on Saturday afternoon.
Despite being pegged back twice in the tie, Andrew Shinnie scored the winner in the 119th minute to take his team into the fifth round.
Livingston were relegated from the Premiership last season but are in contention for promotion at the first time of asking, just four points behind leaders Falkirk.
With extra prize money available for reaching the next round, Martindale hopes they can use that hard-earned finance into boosting his squad.
“I spoke to the staff about getting through to the next round and the financial impact it can have on the football club going forward,” he said.
“We haven’t been in that position in the last six years as we always had Premiership money and Premiership crowds behind us.
“This year, it was extremely important to get a cup run to help the board of directors out. This might bring another player in and might strengthen in our pursuit of getting back to the Premiership by getting through this round of the Scottish Cup.”
Livingston took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Robbie Muirhead scored a penalty after Akil Wright was guilty of handball. Jordan White equalised for Ross County 10 minutes into the second half.
Cristiano Montano put Livingston back in front on the hour mark, but Ronan Hale levelled for County as the game went into extra time where Shinnie scored the winner.
Ross County manager Don Cowie said while his team did well to come from behind twice, they did not do enough to deserve victory on the day.
He said: “Akil Wright has been outstanding for us all season.
“But he has a rush of blood to the head and puts his hand up to a ball and it is a clear penalty which we get punished for.
“We managed to get ourselves back into the game, but we didn’t do anywhere near enough to go and win it.
“The second and third goals were really poor goals to concede. The second came from a long throw. The winning goal was similar where we don’t stop a cross and allow them to get first and second contact in the box. They punished us and rightly so.”
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