ALLOA skipper Dougie Hill insists they will be ready for a boxing day battle with Raith Rovers despite suffering their 14th defeat of the season at the hands of St Mirren last weekend.

The club captain has no fears about facing an emotional return back to Stark's Park where he played for the bulk of his career, and while he will always reserve a special love for the Kirkcaldy side, his focus is only on grabbing all three points for the Wasps.

The Wee County outfit have struggled for goals this season, the former Raith star believes tightening up at the back will give the forwards more of a platform to get back on the goal trail.

Hill told Advertiser sport: “I don't think it matters whether we are at home or away. The fact is that we are not scoring goals freely at the minute and we're not defending well enough either. We should be making sure teams get no chances and not give them chance to punish us off a few chances like St Mirren have. We need to stick to doing our jobs, tighten up at the back and trust that to give the guys upfront the confidence to start scoring goals. There is no problem with the new manager wanting to make changes now because it hasn't worked for us up until now. He has been nothing, but positive and has only encouraged us. Even in defeat he has told us to keep our heads up high because it was a competitive game that we could've won on another day.

“There is very little between the teams in this league outwith Rangers and Hibs, so Raith Rovers are no different. They should maybe have an edge on us in terms of fitness because they're full time players, but that is not always the case. I don't fear playing against them or any of their players and that is how our whole squad should approach the game. I had a great time there in such a big part of my career so I will always love to go back there. I loved playing there, the fans have been great with me and always give me a great reception so I am looking forward to the match.

“My priority now though is with Alloa Athletic so if I have to go back and spoil their Christmas then that is what I am looking to do. I want to win the game because Alloa is my club now and every point has to be a prisoner for us now. I don't think it would be a shock if we beat any of the teams outwith the top two and I include Raith in that. What we do have to do though, is rip up the form book and start picking up some vital points.”

Hill admits the whole squad were left frustrated as new gaffer Jack Ross saw his first match in charge follow the same pattern as the Danny Lennon era with a defeat despite playing well in the match and he feels the dubious second goal proves that they're still not getting the breaks.

He said: “It is a frustrating one to lose because it was a game that could've gone either way. We have switched off at the back for their first goal and I think it was their only shot on goal in the first half. We dominated the first half without creating any real clear cut chances and we had the ball in good areas that we should really have capitalised on. I think they had about three shots on goal the entire game, but it just seems to be when you are bottom and playing against a full time team and big club like they are, then things just don't see me to break for you. I felt their second goal was offside as their striker is almost a yard in front of Jason, who was the last man, and that is the fine margins that are hurting us. If we go into the final stages of the game just one behind then it might have been different. Even at 2-0 we still had chances with Eddie clean through on goal. Overall, we've had enough chances to win the game and that is the biggest disappointment for us.”

The Wasps suffered a major blow at the weekend as stalwart defender Jason Marr limped out of the game with a recurrence of his recent injury and is now in a race against time to be fit for Boxing Day, so the skipper reckons the whole club should be praying for a Christmas miracle.

Hill added: “It is a real blow for us if Jason Marr is out for a spell. It just seems to be our luck this season that either he breaks down or I do, then we both had a suspension as well and we haven't really had a run of games together. We are just starting to forge a decent partnership together and we have not a bad record when we do play together so it is a massive blow for the whole club if he doesn't make Saturday's game. He's a massive player for us and so fingers crossed he makes it.”