ALLOA goalkeeper Neil Parry says he always knew team-mate Iain Flannigan would keep his cool to convert a high-stakes penalty against Inverness last Saturday.

The midfielder’s spot-kick with three minutes remaining helped the ten-man Wasps salvage a draw and claim their first point of the season.

Parry says there is nobody else he would want to step up in that situation – and hailed Flannigan as the best player he has ever played with.

Parry told Advertiser Sport: “If there’s one person I’d want stepping up in that situation it would be Flanny.

"He’s got so much ability. To be honest I think he could play above this level.

“He’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with. He’s a brilliant talent and thankfully he was able to put it away well.

“He’s a relaxed guy in those situations and he’s done it so many times that it doesn’t faze him. It was a great feeling to see it hit the back of the net.”

The goalkeeper was delighted with his team’s efforts against Caley Thistle and says it was a group effort which helped them get their Championship campaign up and running.

He said: “Inverness is a really difficult place to come and the red card made things even harder so we are delighted to have come away with a point.

"It was a bit smash-and-grab at the end, but, effort-wise, all the boys were absolutely superb and we can be really proud of it.

“As a part-time team we are going to have a lot of challenges this season, but against Inverness, we stood up and were counted. It would have been easy to fold and lose 3-or-4-1, but we were excellent.

“Everyone was brilliant. It was a real team effort.

“We were saying during the game that if we could just hang in there then we would get a chance. It does get to a point where you start to think you maybe won’t, but thankfully we got the opportunity.”

Now Parry reckons the result can act as a springboard for Alloa to start climbing the table, and he believes they have what it takes to retain their place in the division.

He added: “I think things are starting to click into place for us. We were very unlucky not to get a point from the game up at Ross County and there was nothing between the teams when we played Morton.

“It can be easy to get down and dispirited but we are only three games in and we have shown ourselves to be more than competitive at this level.

“We are getting to grips with it, but it’s still early days.

“We are looking to compete and so far we’ve done that. We’ll continue giving it our best shot and see where that takes us."

Alloa will now prepare for a double-header against Dundee United with a home league game on Saturday, followed by a trip to Tannadice in the Challenge Cup.

Parry added: “It will be a bit different to the League Cup game. United have picked up a bit since then so it will be very difficult.

"There are no easy games in this league but we are enjoying being here. We want to be as competitive as possible and we are doing that.

“We are all ambitious and we all feel are capable of playing at this level so performing on a bigger stage is a bit of extra motivation for the players.”