ALLOA Athletic boss Jack Ross says his players can take a lot of positives from their 1-0 loss to Queen of the South at Palmerston Park. 

An Iain Russell goal gave the visitors the narrowest of victories, but the Wasps boss was delighted with the way his men battled back to give their hosts a real scare in the second half. 

Ross told Advertiser sport: “I think reflecting back on our five games now, we have played teams that are in and around the playoff spot and we have competed really well against them.

"They're all 1-0 games if you include Morton and there are very fine margins, but I think what we’re doing is competing now. Some of these tight games will fall our way and some won’t and this one went away from us. 

“There wasn’t enough in the game in terms of chances created and I think the wind had a major factor in the game to the point that it allowed either team to dominant territory with the wind at their back.

"I thought we responded well in the second half and we could’ve taken something for the game, but it is all about positives for us. We have come down here to face a side competing for playoffs and gone toe-to-toe with them so that is most encouraging.”

Ross was especially pleased with his young striker Isaac Layne who put in another eye-catching display for the Wee County outfit to cause a major headache for the Queen’s defence. 

A lack of goals has plagued the Wasps throughout the season so far, but despite drawing another blank in Dumfries, the manager believes the amount of chances created is a clear sign of their progression in that area. 

He said: “Goalscoring has been an issue for us all season, but I was pleased in the sense that we actually created four or five good chances in the game. If we can go and do that in the majority of our games then we will do ok.

"I don’t pay much attention to the league table at the moment until we can win some games, but I think you can see how positive we are trying to be to turn things around.

I have to mention Isaac because for a young man who has just come back from playing in the league below on loan, he is getting better with every passing week so that is another encouraging factor for us and hopefully he can continue to have a big impact for us.”

The Wasps now head for Paisley to take on relegation rivals St Mirren next, but the 39-year-old manager is not worried about a return to his former club. 

Instead, he is focused on putting right what he feels was his side’s worst performance of his tenure so far with the 2-0 loss at home to Alex Rae’s men last time they met.

Ross added: “I don’t really think about next week as a return to my former club. It is more a case of, out of my games in charge so far, it is the one where we haven’t played in the manner I wanted. We did ok, but I think we were still a wee bit flat so that is something we want to go and put right next weekend.

"It is a great place to go and play. I was there when they moved into the new stadium, it is a great venue and a nice pitch so this is the advantage of playing in this league that the players have to enjoy. The incentive for us to go there and win is a huge one.”