ALLOA Assistant boss Paddy Connolly reckon the experience of their 2-1 away win over Cowdenbeath will prove invaluable for them ahead of the new campaign.

The Wasps number two, who has taken charge of the last three games whilst gaffer Jack Ross is on holiday, revealed that he was a little over-cautious with some players in the squad nursing niggles for the game last weekend because he was desperate to avoid a lengthy injury list for the manager's return.

Connolly told Advertiser sport: “It was great to get a game away from home under our belts as well. Cowdenbeath is always a hard place to come and win, but I thought the boys played some decent stuff in the conditions with the pitch being difficult. I think we will meet teams like that in the league campaign who will try to do the same and look to stop us from playing so it could prove to be invaluable experience for the group. I think we probably deserved to win in the end.

“We still have a few injury concerns, but a few of them I was maybe a little over cautious with a few of them. The likes of Andy Graham, Jon Robertson and Jordan Kirkpatrick would likely have played had it been a league game, but I just didn’t want the manager to return to a full treatment table.”

Connolly was delighted with the comeback win against the Blue Brazil because of the way the players dug in for the result and he now hopes they can enjoy that winning feeling on a more regular basis in the coming season.

He said: “It was another decent workout for us once again and I thought we played well enough over the 90 minutes. Cowdenbeath were a danger at times, especially in the first half, where they maybe cut us open a bit too easily, but the players learned quickly from that and overall it was a mostly pleasing game for us. It is a nice habit for us to get into going through pre-season unbeaten so far, but the results are not as important as the minutes under our belt and the match sharpness is coming back all the time.”

The former Dundee United star believes the Wasps squad are close to full fitness now as the start of the competitive action against Cove Rangers on Tuesday night.

Connolly added: “I think we are almost ready to go. While some clubs may see the League Cup campaign as an extension of pre-season, but that is certainly not the case for the gaffer. He is looking for us to hit the ground running in the group stage and so our final pre-season game against Berwick will be aimed at finalising our strongest team. We have one or two niggles that we have to get over, but apart from that we are looking strong and excited for the season ahead now.”