Matija Sarkic left Aston Villa on loan after Dean Smith’s side were promoted to the Premier League and the goalkeeper is shining in Scotland for Livi.
Livingston goalkeeper Matija Sarkic believes his decision to leave Aston Villa over the summer has been justified after he was handed a first ever senior call up for the Montenegro national team recently, speaking to the Daily Record (3 November, page 58).
It has been a fine season so far for the Sarkic brothers. While Oliver is thriving at Burton Albion with a number of eye-catching goals to his name, Matija is making a name for himself north of the border at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
The 22-year-old has started each of Livingston’s last five Scottish Premiership games. He even kept a clean sheet as Livi beat Celtic for the first time in their 76-year history in October, setting up the clinching strike in a famous 2-0 win with a long goal-kick which somehow evaded the entire Hoops defence and put Lyndon Dykes clear.
Sarkic could now be rewarded for his fine form with a first ever senior international cap, having previously represented Montenegro at U17, U19 and U21 level.
And the Grimsby-born shot-stopper believes he was right to secure another loan move away from Aston Villa over the summer after seizing his chance to play regular first-team football for the first time.
“The call-up justifies my decision to come up here. As soon as I got the call to come to Livingston I felt it was a good opportunity,” he said.
Sarkic hasn’t made his senior bow for Villa yet, having joined from Anderlecht in 2015, and he faces a challenge if he is to force his way into Dean Smith’s plans sooner rather than later. Behind number one Tom Heaton, Lovre Kalinic, Jed Steer and Orjan Nyland are all jostling for a place in the squad.
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