Gary Holt has vowed Livingston will go toe to toe with St Johnstone after returning to action in Sunday's Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts.

The Lions manager reckons his side showed the effects of having been without a game for three weeks when they went down to a narrow 1-0 loss at Tynecastle.

However, with their first match back after the winter break now under their belts, he is confident his players will be back to their best and up for the challenge at McDiarmid Park.

Holt, who is poised to sign a defender, with skipper Craig Halkett and fellow stopper Declan Gallagher doubts for the trip to Perth, said: "I'm delighted we got the game on Sunday.

"I think everyone who watched it and even looking back on it, will have seen it was a good cup tie, but scrappy.

"I think it showed that it was two teams after three weeks off and both teams will have benefited from that game.

"It's given us a chance to blow the cobwebs away, get the rustiness out and get that bit of match sharpness, and we're going to need it against St Johnstone.

"It's a tough, tough place to go, against a very professional, mature side.

"They don't lose many games at home and so it's going to be tough.

"But we know we've got areas of the park where we can hurt them and we can go there and go toe to toe with them, which is what we try to do in every game because we want to win.

"We know our game plan, we know how we're going to play and I think they will know how we're going to play – and we know how they're going to play.

"So, we'll go there and it's a case of may the best man win on the day, as they say."