Liam Kelly’s Rangers career never really took off, but his Livingston one certainly has.
Kelly, of course, spent five years at Ibrox in the club’s academy. After failing to make a single appearance for the first-team, however, he felt at 22-years-old it was time to move on. Livingston came calling, and after a productive loan spell two years ago, he made a permanent switch in the summer.
Nobody can deny it’s been the best move he could possibly have made. He’s racked up clean sheets against Rangers and Celtic so far this season, making a series of stunning stops. Everyone is starting to sit up and take notice of him, and he’s been a huge part of the Livingston story this season.
He’s managed to make 17 appearances, and started every Premiership game for Livi. Within those 17 matches, 10 of them have saw him keep clean sheets. In six of the others, he’s only let in one goal.
Sensational stats
His stats speak for themselves. He’s in sensational form and is proving to be a top young goalkeeper. Yet, whilst we all remember him for his Old Firm shut-outs, we’re about to find a lot more about him tomorrow.
A trip to Ibrox is becoming fairly daunting this season. In Rangers’ last seven domestic home matches, they’ve bagged 24 goals. Kelly can expect plenty of clear sights of his goal tomorrow afternoon, and it’ll be down to him to prove he can do the business in a tough away fixture.
Of course, this won’t be his first visit to a bigger pitch as an opposition player. The former Rangers youngster put in a positive display in a 3-1 loss at Parkhead on opening day. He also has a clean sheet at Tynecastle to his name this year.
Rangers, however, are fresh off blasting home seven goals against Motherwell last time out. Kelly will have to be at his very best to make sure Livingston get anything out of this one.
He’ll be desperate to put on yet another show against his former club. Coming up against the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Scott Arfield, and either Ryan Kent or Glenn Middleton, he’ll be in for a tough slog.
Rangers must be watching his development closely, however, and will be watching him once more tomorrow. Another positive display and that reputation will be going through the roof.
