MIDFIELD maestro Connor McManus reckons Alloa can learn an important lesson from their 3-0 defeat to Hibs at Easter Road.

The on-loan Celtic youngster felt his side's attempts to halt the passing game from Alan Stubbs' men was the right plan, but believes the timing of the goals were ultimately the key to their demise.

McManus told Advertiser sport: “I think with the 3-0, Hibs did play well for it, but I think the timings of the first two goals either side of half time killed us. After the break, we were hoping to produce a similar game plan to hold the game at 1-0 for as long as we could, then get some flair players on late on to go for it, but the concession of the second goal made it an uphill battle for us. It was poor from our point of view, but that is the quality that Hibs can produce and it is something we will look to learn from for the next game. We just have to learn from the experience and try to improve on it for the next match.

“It was a very disappointing afternoon for us in the end. We had a good game plan that was working to an extent, but the first goal comes at a horrible time for us. We set out to frustrate them and stop them from playing, but the goal before the break knocked the stuffing out of us a little. But we will take positives from this game. Defensively we were good for long periods, but maybe on the ball we could have done more with it and that was our biggest let down. ”

McManus seemed to thrive in the capital in front of the bigger crowd, but is aware that both himself and his team mates still have a lot to improve on heading into the local derby crunch against Falkirk this weekend.

He said: “I relished playing at Easter Road and it is definitely another one to tick off my list, but I would've obviously preferred to be leaving with a better result. I was pleased with aspects of my own performance, but there are plenty of things for us to work on both individually and as a team so I will look to build on them for the next game. I think the Falkirk game is definitely a good one for us to bounce back in with it being a local derby. There will be a good crowd for the game and that type of game is exactly what we need as we will have a real chance of getting something from the game. We will go into the game looking to show just what we can do.”

The 19-year-old midfielder believes the addition of Robbie Crawford to the mix in the Wasps midfield means they now have the perfect blend and plenty of competition for places.

McManus added: “I think we have a great mix of talent in our midfield now and I am enjoying being part of it. We have the experience of Bobo, Flanny and homer then a bit of youth with myself. Now with the addition of Robbie, I think we have a nice balance in there. We can only get better in the coming weeks. Robbie has slotted in well now so there is plenty of competition for places which means we will have a strong bench as well and that keeps us all on our toes as well.”