Lyndon Dykes insists Livingston should be aiming to stay in the Ladbrokes Premiership’s top six after climbing the table following Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of Ross County.

The striker grabbed his first senior hat-trick and became the first Lions player to score three goals in a top-flight game after adding to Ricki Lamie’s opener.

It was a hugely disappointing afternoon for the visitors, who had been decimated by a sickness bug in the build-up to the clash.

In the end, County were only forced into three changes to the team from the previous weekend’s win over Kilmarnock.

Ruthless Livingston appear to be in rude health and Dykes believes Gary Holt’s side should be looking up the table after climbing to sixth above County and Hibernian.

He said: “It was a great incentive before the game knowing we could climb into the top six.

“We should be pushing for the top six, it’s a target we should be aiming for and hopefully we can stay here.

“We were a bit sloppy and didn’t play the best we could but we were clinical when we got our chances and we didn’t give them a sniff of our goal either.

“I can’t take it away from the boys, we played well but we can probably all do better.”

Dykes could not hide his delight over his personal scoring feat.

He added: “I’ll remember this for the rest of my life, it’s my first hat-trick and I’m buzzing.

“Hopefully I’ll get another one in the next game against Aberdeen on Boxing Day.

“I’m really pleased and hopefully they keep coming. It was the perfect hat-trick – right foot, left foot and a header – and I’m buzzing.

“When I got to two I was hoping I’d get the chance to get a third. Marv (Bartley) made that great run at the end and crossed the ball and I was thrilled it went in; we got the three points and a clean sheet.”

Lamie opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a close-range finish before Dykes slammed in Steven Lawless’ pass before the break.

The former Queen of the South player then pounced on a loose ball five minutes after the restart before heading in his third after 73 minutes.

Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson concedes he and Stuart Kettlewell now need to lift the squad’s spirits for Thursday’s visit of Motherwell.

He said: “The boys are suffering but we won’t let them feel sorry for themselves.

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us so we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves either.

“We play Motherwell next and we need to dust ourselves down and make sure we are ready for the game when it comes around.”