The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Livi manager reveals forward has suffered season-ending injury
Davie Martindale fears it will be pre-season before he sees Gavin Reilly back in action after revealing the Livingston striker has suffered a 20-centimetre hamstring tear.
The Lions boss admits the injury suffered by the former Hearts and St Mirren player in last week’s defeat by Rangers was one of the worst he has ever seen.
And he believes it may have been caused by the ultra-fit 27-year-old being too lean.
Martindale said: “Gavin’s got a 20cm tear in his hamstring.
“He’s absolutely devastated.”
He continued: “It’s season-ending. It’s potentially a, ‘I hope to see you in pre-season’ job.
“It’s a four-monther give or take depending on how he heals.
“He’s one of these guys with low body fat and a lot of muscle mass.
“There’s real definition to him, almost like a sprinter’s body. But some boys are almost too conditioned and have too little fat in them.
“You need to have a bit of fat in the muscle to give it that elasticity.”
Martindale will have to put his faith in strikers Scott Robinson, Jay Emmanuel-thomas and Matej Poplatnik as Livi go in search of the single point from their two remaining pre-split games needed to clinch a top-six place, with Hamilton first up at the Tony Macaroni Arena tomorrow.
A top-half finish for the second year running would be a massive financial boost for the Lions but Martindale admits he will not see a penny of the prize money, with the windfall required to repair the damage done to the club’s balance sheet by Covid.
“My budget is based on finishing 12th,” he said.
“So if we go down next year, it means the club is not losing thousands of pounds and every single player who signs has a relegation clause in their contract because we can’t afford to pay those wages if we drop down.”