JIM GOODWIN was the first to accept responsibility as Alloa were held to a draw by Queen’s Park on Saturday.

The result saw Brechin City overtake the Wasps in the league table and the gaffer confessed his disappointment at the way the game went.

He told Advertiser Sport: “We’re a little bit frustrated but again, it’s a great reaction from the lads. They go a goal down and manage to come back.

“I’m disappointed with the goal. I hold my hands up. Ross Millen’s ran off the back of me and played the one-two. I should stay with the runner but I don’t and we get punished.

“The boys were excellent. They defended really well and Neil Parry’s not had many saves to make.

The player-manager commended the organisation of Gus MacPherson’s Queen’s Park as they stuck to a well-executed game plan.

Goodwin added: “We knew Queen’s Park would come and play with five at the back to make life difficult for us.

“They’ve got decent energy in their team. It was a decent game, a little bit open and stretched at times but on the whole we created enough chances.

“We just couldn’t get that second after bringing it back to 1-1.”

“We knew how difficult Queen’s would be. They played the exact same way when we faced them at Hampden. We’ve watched a lot of games and had a lot of reports so we knew what to expect.

“They’re a back five for most of the game. The wingbacks get high and wide when they are attacking but for the majority they will try and frustrate you. They’re good at it.

“Gus has them very well-organised. They have some decent footballers in the team as well, you’ve got to give them credit. It’s not a case of parking the bus, I thought they gave a good account of themselves.”

Livingston’s 2-0 win over Airdrie saw the gap between first and fourth extent to 12 points, but the gaffer insisted that Alloa have been unlucky.

He said: “We’re unbeaten again, but the points just aren’t enough at the moment. Livingston keep on winning so we don’t want that gap to get any wider than it is now.

“We’re a little but frustrated with how things are going. The break of the ball isn’t really going our way at the moment, but we can’t make excuses.

“We’ve just got to keep going. The boys work so hard every day of the week so it’s certainly not through lack of effort.”

Despite results not going the way of the Wasps recently, Goodwin believes they can turn it around.

The player-manager said: “We had a great start and the last few weeks we’ve hit a dip in form but these things happen. We have to stay positive and keep believing.

“That’s what we do, we continue to work as hard as we can. The boys aren’t showing any lack of effort or commitment. It’s just the goals aren’t as free flowing as they were at the start of the season.

“We defended well apart from the goal, which was my mistake. Apart from that, I was very pleased. There are plenty of positives.

“We played some great football. It’s just annoying that we need to go that goal behind before we can get that reaction.

“It was the same up at Peterhead, we went a goal down before we started playing and got ourselves back in the game up there.

“We need to start games the way we are finishing them. If we can do that, we’ll be fine.

“There’s no need to panic, we just need to keep going and working hard.”