JON ROBERTSON admitted Alloa's players could do more to turn round their poor start to the season.

The Wasps suffered another damaging defeat at Stranraer last weekend, and Robertson believes the squad are not giving their all.

And the midfielder says his team-mates must be prepared for a battle if they want to improve on recent results.

Robertson told Advertiser Sport: "Any time I've been down in this situation it's just about rolling your sleeves up and working hard.

"Everybody to a man has to go and battle because teams are latching onto our weaknesses. It's all about good, old-fashioned hard work.

"We work very hard on a Tuesday and a Thursday, but now we've got to work harder. It's as simple as that.

"After a disappointing weekend you always want to get back on the training pitch and put things right. Confidence is low at the minute, but that's why we've got to get back to basics.

"Every one of us, including myself, has got to do more, because if we were all giving one hundred per cent I don't believe for a minute that we'd be in this position just now.

"The only positive we can take is that it's only the first quarter. Time is on our side at the minute.

"But we're nowhere near where we expected to be at this stage. Yes, we have time to sort things out, but that means everybody, from the coaching staff right down to the players. We have to get round each other and build a bit of positivity if we can."

Alloa were undone by two second-half goals as Stranraer sent them home empty-handed, and Robertson reckons it was old habits which contributed to his side's downfall.

He said: "There wasn't too much in the game but we seem to be having the same issues every week. The goals we're conceding are poor from a team point of view, and we don't really look like scoring when we do create openings.

"That's always going to cause problems. That's the way things have been all the way through the first quarter and I don't think we can have any issues with the position we're in."

The current campaign has seen a sea change for Alloa compared to last season when they went so close to promotion, and Robertson insisted that they now have to put that out of their minds and focus on the task in hand.

He added: "Last season has gone now. It's great when you're winning but this is the other side of the game now.

"There's not a lot between the teams in this league but with the players we've got, I've got no doubt we're better than where we are."