ANDY Graham says shutting out Queen’s Park was crucial as his Alloa side beat the Spiders in League One last Saturday.

The Wasps kept their first clean sheet since the end of October, and Graham says their solid defensive display helped them claim three vital points.

And the defender reckons a victory gained at Hampden fully shows what Alloa are capable of.

Graham told Advertiser Sport: “The manager has been hammering into us the importance of getting clean sheets. We know how crucial it is. We have got goals in the team which can sometimes leave us open but we know that we will almost always score. There have only been a couple of games this season where we haven’t scored. If we keep clean sheets we know we will win a good amount of games.

“It was a really good result. The three points are the main thing at the end of the day and we are delighted with them because Queen’s Park are one of the form teams in the division. To come here and get a result is a real positive.”

The Wasps got off to the perfect start through Greig Spence, and Graham reckons that taking the lead early helped his side, who have made a habit of falling behind in recent games.

He said: “We have dropped a lot of points recently as a result of losing the first goal and it has felt like the same story every week, so to get the lead so early on was massive. We have players who can hurt teams and when you’ve got the lead you are able to sit in a bit more and hit them on the break. That is where we are dangerous. They did put us under pressure but I always felt that we would get another chance to put it to bed.”

Graham believes Alloa can still overhaul the 12-point gap to leaders Livingston at the top of League One, and cited his experience as a Stirling Albion player, when it was the Wasps who held a comfortable lead at the top.

He added: “Football is a funny game. When I was at Stirling we were way behind Alloa and ended up winning the league so you just don’t know at this stage. Livi are a great side and they are picking up results. We just have to take care of ourselves, and if anything happens at Livi we will hopefully be able to close that gap.”