Lewis Smith hoping to help Livingston ‘thrive’ in the Premiership

David Martindale wants Livingston “not to just survive” but to “thrive” in the Premiership, according to winger Lewis Smith.

The former Hamilton Accies man scored the second goal in the 3-1 win over Falkirk in yesterday’s battle between the two promoted sides, putting Livi – probably briefly – on top of the table.

“For the club, [the aim] is just to finish as high as possible,” Smith said. “The gaffer’s trying to instil in the mindset not to just survive, to try and thrive in the league.

“We’re trying to play good football and I think you’ve seen that so far in the first two games.

“We’ve scored a good few goals too, and personally I just want to try and help the team as best I can, score goals and chip in with assists too.”

Smith joined Livingston at the start of last season and was a key part of their late push for the Championship title, with Falkirk finally getting over the line on the final weekend.

He took his goal against the Bairns well, curling in an absolute beauty from the edge of the box.

“It was a really good team move, and then the ball came to me on edge of the box and I just cut inside,” he said. “It opened up well for me and yeah, thankfully it went in.

“In the first half, especially right at the start of the game, we were weathering a bit of a storm, but we scored the goals at a crucial time, just before half-time. It gave us a real boost going into the second half.”

A lot has been made of Livingston’s plastic pitch, but the club has upgraded the surface over the summer and Smith sang its praises.

“The new pitch is great,” he added. “People have a go at astro pitches, but ours and Falkirk’s is top-notch now and it’s really good.

“You can tell in the games that have been played this season so far, the ball moves really quickly and I like it because it’s easier to run and to pass the ball, so it’s good.”