LIVINGSTON manager Gary Holt has urged Liam Kelly to finish his apprenticeship at the Lions and says the club have offered the Scotland squad goalkeeper a new deal.

Kelly is reportedly attracting attention from German club Hamburg and Celtic owing to the 23-year-old having a £50,000 buy-out clause in his contract, which still has another 12 months to run.

The former Rangers trainee has been among the stand-outs in Livingston’s impressive first season back in the Premiership, keeping 14 clean sheets from 35 games.

That form led to Kelly being called up to the Scotland squad for the first time for March’s Euro qualifiers against Kazakhstan and San Marino.

However, Holt believes Kelly should remain at Livingston if he is not guaranteed first-team football elsewhere.

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Holt, who will lose defenders Craig Halkett and Declan Gallagher to Hearts and Motherwell respectively this summer, said: “I’m not aware of any interest, all I’ve seen is what I’ve read and I don’t get involved in the details of contracts.

“He’s only played one year at this level and I don’t see him as a time-served professional yet. The old heads used to say when I started playing football that unless you’ve played 100 league games, you’re still an apprentice.

“He’s one who has potential but that’s what it is. Yes, he’s playing at our level but it’s 30-odd games he’s played. It’s a big world out there and can he grasp it and go and make use of what he’s good at?

“He’s playing first-team football at the moment, do you want to risk that going somewhere and not being the No.1? I don’t know?”

Holt, whose side travel to St Johnstone tomorrow, admits the club are keen to extend Kelly’s current deal.

He added: “We’re talking to him about a contract. We’ve offered Liam a new deal and been in talks and we’ve offered deals to a few others as well. It’s one of those things but I’m not going to sit about and wait.”