Livingston boss David Hopkin praised his side for shrugging off mounting injury problems to defy the odds once more and edge ahead in the Premiership play-off final.

Championship runners-up Livi came from behind to win the first leg of the Premiership play-off final 2-1 against top-flight outfit Partick Thistle.

Kris Doolan edged the Jags in front with a neat header but Keaghan Jacobs soon equalised before Scott Pittman completed the turnaround in the second half.

The Lions picked up injuries during a fiercely contested match, with both Jordan Thompson and Lee Miller eventually substituted with knocks.

Ahead of Sunday's decisive second leg, Hopkin is hopeful his players can recover quickly to go again.

He told BBC Sportsound: "Our squad's down to the bare bones and the players give me everything.

"I'm so proud of every player. We just keep going and we just keep defying the odds.

"Tonight, to win 2-1 at home, it's great to finish the season at home with a win.

"I thought they were fantastic.

"We score a fantastic equaliser. At half-time, I keep saying, if it had finished at 1-1, I'd have been delighted.

"Josh Mullin's gone and put a fantastic ball in and then Scott Pittman, what a finish it is to go near post.

"The biggest thing about us now is recovery. We've only got 15 fit players. It's about patching players up. We know it's going to be a hard shift on Sunday."

"It's only half-time. I just wish the games were played over one leg."

Partick Thistle have work to do to preserve their Premiership status after failing to build on a promising start.

Alan Archibald lamented his side's display on the night.

He said: "I didn't think we played at all.

"We got drawn into playing long, aimless balls up front to our two strikers, which is something we've not done when we've played that kind of system and that shape recently so that was disappointing.

"The goal probably overshadowed what a bad start we had.

"We've got to get more efforts on goal, we've got to score goals, obviously, to get back into the tie.

"We're fighting for our lives, they're trying to take our place, we've got to make sure we're ready for that."