ALLOA boss Jack Ross admits he didn't have the words to console his players after Raith Rovers snatched a last gasp point in the 1-1 draw at the Indodrill Stadium last weekend.

The Wasps came within 90 seconds of recording a first home win of the SPFL Championship season after the strike from ex-player Kyle Benedictus in the 92nd minute cancelled out Steven Hetherington's opener.

The manager hopes when the dust settles on the disappointment of the late goal, his players will draw confidence from the performance against one of the division's form teams.

Hetherington told Advertiser sport: “There is nothing I could say to the players after the game that can make it hurt any less. When you concede a goal in injury time there's no magic words you can find to take that feeling away. I don't think we deserved that, but it's maybe just indicative of how the season has panned out for us. You could probably pick the bones out of every goal you concede, but sometimes things just drop in areas and that is what happened.

“Sometimes you have to take a step back from the disappointment and say we were up against a team who are fourth in the league and on a really good run prior to coming here. They've been winning a lot of games and are in poll position for a playoff spot, yet we have come withing 60 seconds of beating them for the second time this season. I think we deserved to win the game and for a team who have been written off by so many it would be so easy for them just to roll over, but they certainly haven't done that.”

Ross insists his men will always hold out hope of a miraculous escape from relegation while it is still mathematically possible, but both he and the players are fully aware of the situation they find themselves in.

He said: “While it is still possible then we will always retain the belief. We can't affect what has gone before this season, so all we can do is treat each game as the most important game of the season and try to win it. I think these players deserve to win games, but it is out of our hands now because we would need things to go our way elsewhere.

“Of course, if we were to go and win six of them to take us to safety, it would be something spectacular. But if we win can four of them and things don't go our way then at least we can say that we finished the season with pride. The belief is still there, but we know it is an uphill task now that is out with our control.”

The 39-year-old admits he was gutted for his players after last weekend's result robbed them of the chance to smash their home hoodoo that has seen them go without a competitive home win since beating Forfar Athletic in the playoff final last May, but he holds out hope that they will still break that run before the season is out.

Ross added: “I really feel for the players in terms of the home record. I couldn't care less about me because they're the ones who have to go out there and do it on the park. They put a huge amount of effort into that last game and played some nice football to create some good opportunities, but we still have a few chances to put it right before the end of the season and so that is what we will look to do. If we keep up the performance levels of the Raith game then I am sure we will get a break.”