David Martindale is braced for an “extremely challenging” summer transfer window as he tries to convince his targets to look beyond the relatively low finances being offered by Livingston.
The Lions’ wage bill is set to be slashed from £1.4million to £1.2m after they missed out on the top six in the cinch Premiership this term.
Martindale admits he is even struggling to recruit from the Championship, but he remains confident he will be able to find enough quality players who will see the value of taking a financial hit to expose themselves to Scottish top-flight football.
“Financially it’s going to be a difficult challenge,” he said on Wednesday. “I need to cut the budget by around £200,000. We already have the lowest budget in the league and we’re losing another £200,000 so that is going to make it extremely challenging.
“I’m finding it challenging this year but recruitment is a part of the job I really enjoy. I think we’ve been fairly successful at it over the years and hopefully we can do that again.
“I spent three or four hours face to face with a couple of players yesterday and I’ve got a Zoom call with a player today so I am having conversations with a view to getting players in but it’s been a little more difficult than it’s been in the past.
“We’ve missed out on probably two or three players from the Championship that we’d earmarked.
“Let’s be honest, players are not coming to Livingston for the finances but I’m hoping that by showing them round the stadium, showing them what we’re trying to do as a club and showing them the consistency we’ve had in the Premiership for the last five years that it ticks a box and helps bring them into the building.
“You’re pulling on their heartstrings a little.”
Martindale, meanwhile, is hoping that Livingston will benefit from playing at home against Dundee United this weekend. The Lions have lost 12 of their 18 league games on the road this term, including each of their last seven, while they have won their last two at home.
“Away from home, we’ve not been good enough,” said the manager. “Our away record is better than some but it’s nowhere near what it should be in terms of the goals we’ve been shipping.
“We’re different at home. It’s up to me to find that balance and correct it going into the new season. Our away record’s been terrible but we’re at home on Saturday and Wednesday so hopefully we can rectify things that have been causing us problems in games recently.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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