Reaction

The defeat on Saturday against East Fife was another game we have lost in which we were desperate to take something from. Having started the game well and going close on a couple of ocassions East Fife took the lead against the run of play, but the game again was lost just prior to half time when the visitors snatched two more goals to go in at half-time with a 3-0 lead which even they must have been surprised with. individual errors and lack of confidence was again our downfall. In the second half Alloa dominated possession and managed a consolation goal through Michael McGowan whose work rate was tireless, late chances could not be put away with Jim Lister failing with the best opportunity late in the game but The Wasps had given too much away in the first half. March is going to be a big month for the club with Ayr United away, than a double header with Brechin City home & away then Peterhead at home before the end of the month.

ALLAN MAITLAND AS BAD RUN CONTINUES AFTER EAST FIFE

I thought we started the game really well today and created half chances, Billy Gibson headed one off the post and Bryan Prunty went close with a header, the game was really even but the way things with us at the moment we are on such a run of form where confidence is such a big thing, James Bloom suffered a broken nose just after twenty minutes into the game which took him out of the game when he was playing well , it also took Kevin Motion out position as he had to move to left back and it took us fifteen to twenty minutes to adjust to that and in that time we lost three goals. In the second half we came out after having words at half-time and tried to get ourselves reorganised – Big Jim Lister came on and gave us a threat up front and held the ball up for us well in the second half and we really showed a bit of pride in the second half but yet again we have lost three goals in a game and we can’t lose three goals and expect to get anything from it. I thought East Fife were bright and breezy up front with Bobby Linn in particular being a handful but if we cannot defend better than that we cannot win football matches and unfortunately that is where we are, we had a situation today I had Mark Brown, David McClune, and Scott Walker not playing in my back four and I can now add James Bloom to that and Billy Gibson now and even my makeshift left back, Kevin Motion is now suspended as well, so that’s six of them out who could possibly be in the back four so we obviously have problems at the moment and confidence is a massive part of that, so we are working at it, we can only work and keep working and hope that it will turn for us just when I thought we were getting somewhere after the Forfar and Airdrie United games we suffered a set back last week in the second half and as I said the broken nose and trying to adjust to get Kevin into left back has again left us with another hugely disappointing day and I understand the frustration everybody feels at the club but I can assure you myself and the management team and the players feel exactly the same. At half-time I explained to the players the standards we expect at this club were not reached in the last twenty minutes of the first half and the goals we lost were embarrassing – I wouldn’t expect a Sunday team to lose the goals we are conceding at the moment, we spoke about pride and showing what they can do and that they still had 45 minutes to show what they have got and I think the team did show a bit of pride in the second half but that is all very well when you are down 3-0 and made sure it didn’t go to 4 or 5, we got one back and Jim Lister got a half chance in there and if we had scored that we might have got back in the match – but for 75 minutes of the game we played alright and that was a game earlier in the season we would have won when the confidence was high. We were fine until we lost the opening goal but as soon as we lose a goal the team sense our lack of confidence just now and that is why after losing a goal we have to easily lost a second or third goal, that was evident last Saturday and again today, so you can talk about it all you want but trying to resolve it is a difficult thing. You talk about confidence – Hibernian went ten games and couldn’t win a game then out of the blue they won five in a row – we would dearly love that to come round to us and the sooner the better but we are finding it really difficult at the moment and we will just have to keep working and hope that changes for us, last year we went to Stirling Albion with a really makeshift team and a player coming in from the Juniors, because he wasn’t getting a game for his Junior side and we went there and won 3-0 and with the injuries and suspensions we have maybe that is just the type of break we are needing this season. Our form is relegation form of that there is absolutely no doubt and teams down below us are picking up points so there is doubt we must start to pick up victories to get us out and away from the bottom part of the league.