Livingston manager David Martindale has insisted the decision to substitute Liverpool loanee shortly before half-time of the League Cup defeat by Rangers was for the “greater good” after the midfielder was visibly unhappy at coming off at Ibrox.
Lewis was clearly fuming with the decision but Martindale revealed that two of his coaching staff had pointed out Lewis was limping after rolling his ankle in the warm-up before the 2-0 defeat.
The West Lothian side welcome back Ben Williamson when they travel to Hearts this weekend as Martindale confirmed the reason behind Lewis’ substitution.
“Ben comes in and gives us a wee bit more energy in the middle of the park having not played since Sunday. There’s a few that will need to be re-evaluated.
“Adam Lewis came off on Wednesday. He was miffed at coming off but he rolled his ankle in the warm-up. I didn’t see it but Marvin Bartley and Dougie Imrie told me and he was limping from about 30 minutes in.
“He thought he was OK to carry on but Marv and Dougie both said he rolled his ankle in the warm-up so I made a decision to take him off. He probably could have stayed on the park but would he have been playing at 100 per cent? I don’t believe so. I don’t think you can go to places like Ibrox and have players who have a knock, especially when it was visible to the eye. When he’s limping there’s pain and it affects your game.
“I think he was disappointed to come off but we did it for the greater good for Adam and the club to be honest.”
NTOF now offers a YouTube channel featuring exclusive interviews, post-match discussion, in-depth debate, and much more – LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and don’t miss any of our videos.