Livingston’s Efe Ambrose named in SPFL Team of the Week

Efe Ambrose has been named in the SPFL Team of the Week after a stellar performance in Livingston’s 1-0 win over 10-man Ross County at the weekend.

The Lions had previously been without a win in the Scottish Premiership this season, losing to St. Mirren, Hibernian and Aberdeen, then securing draws against Motherwell and log leaders Rangers.

All the misfortune however changed with John Guthrie’s 64th-minute strike getting the all-important first win of the campaign.

Ambrose played at centre-back alongside Guthrie for the whole 90 minutes and had 82 touches on the ball and a passing accuracy of 85.3% which were the third and fourth highest of any Livingston player on the pitch. He also won six of nine aerial duels second only to Guthrie’s eight.

Ambrose’s passing was the highlight which was described as one of the reasons for his selection on the SPFL website. It was also the first time this term the Nigerian was playing at centre-back with the other occasions coming at wing-back.

“Started in his natural position for the first time this season and excelled as Livingston defeated Ross County on Saturday. In addition to his defensive duties, Ambrose’s range of passing was a major plus for the West Lothian side in their 1-0 triumph.”

👏🏻| Efe Ambrose makes it into the @spfl Team of the Week after his showing in the 1-0 win over Ross County.

Well done, Efe! ⭐️ https://t.co/zfBMTb2PHl

— Livingston FC (@LiviFCOfficial) September 1, 2020

Ambrose has played all but one game in the Premiership this season, the only exception being in the goalless draw at home to fellow Nigerians Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun’s Rangers.

He has completed 90 minutes on three of the five appearances.

In the Team of Week, Ambrose was flanked by Tommie Hoban of Aberdeen and Jason Kerr of St. Johnstone.

Jon McLaughlin was in goal for Rangers, the Scottish goalkeeper keeping a sixth consecutive clean sheet in the top-flight this term, while it was a five-man midfield comprising of Danny McNamara and Craig Conway both of St Johnstone, Ross McCrorie of Aberdeen, Celtic’s Callum McGregor and Greg Kiltie from Kilmarnock.

In attack were Ryan Kent from Rangers and Nicke Kabamba of Kilmarnock.

Ambrose joined Livingston in February this year and has previously played for Celtic and Hibernian. He also had a brief stint with English Championship club Derby County in 2019.