Tommy Wright’s Scottish Premiership preview: Livingston boss Gary Holt won’t want to lose Lyndon Dykes

Back in 2018, Lyndon Dykes was the one that got away from Tommy Wright.

As boss of St Johnstone, he considered making a move for the Australian, then playing in a wide role for Queen of the South.

Two years on, he finds himself hoping for Gary Holt’s sake that Livingston don’t end up losing him to Rangers, or another of the dangerous striker’s many admirers.

“The recruitment of Lyndon was a real plus for Livingston,” said Wright.

“He is a real handful for opposition defences, and a focal point of their team.

“So picking him up from Queen of the South was really good recruiting by Gary.

“We’d had a look at him ourselves, but at the time we just felt he had gone off the boil a bit.

“Since then, he has been great for Livingston, and keeping hold of him this season is going to be really important to them.”

Wright, who never had the luxury of being able to spend money on new players when with Saints, believes Livi set the standard for other clubs on how to do less with more.

“Livingston have done remarkably well,” he said.

“They have shown what you can do if you are difficult to beat, play in a certain way, and stick to that way of playing.

“For this season coming up, they have lost a couple of experienced defenders.

“Ricki Lamie has gone to Motherwell, and captain Alan Lithgow is out for a long time with a hip injury.

“On top of that, Steven Lawless – a player who I always felt created an awful lot of their attacking play – has gone down to England to play for Burton Albion.

“It is a positive for them that they have keeper Robby McCrorie, who did well for them, back on loan from Rangers.

“They have also recruited a couple of players from the lower leagues – Alan Forrest from Ayr United and the Queen’s Park striker, Salim Kouider-Aissa.

“If they can maintain their strong home record, I think they can have a good season.”