JIM GOODWIN insisted he is loving life at Alloa as he celebrated his 100th game in charge of the club on Saturday.

But, the former St Mirren player admitted he ultimately saw his future back in the full time game.

Speaking after his side’s frustrating 0-0 draw with Inverness, the Irishman was taken by surprise when told of the landmark.

He said: “I can’t actually believe that 100 games have gone by so quickly.

“I’ve loved every minute of it and I am very, very lucky to have been given the opportunity two years ago and I am delighted to be here.

“I am really enjoying my time and I’ve got a great backroom staff and people up the stairs.

“And, more importantly, I’ve got a group of players in there who are now starting to believe that they can compete at this level.

“That’s what I want. People wrote us off before a ball was kicked and expected us to be detached. But, the fact of the matter is that we are more than matching the opposition.”

Goodwin initially joined the club as a player under Jack Ross before being given the manager’s role when his former boss moved to St Mirren in October 2016.

And the 36-year-old’s management of Alloa hasn’t gone unnoticed. Having won the playoffs last year and secured promotion to the Championship, Goodwin has found himself touted for a number of full time jobs; including the post at St Mirren when Ross left for Sunderland in the summer.

Few at the club expect Goodwin to be around forever and that’s something he admitted himself.

Goodwin continued: “What will be will be. It’s been well documented that my ambition is to eventually go full time.

“But, I am not in any hurry whatsoever. I am 36 and very, very young when you consider some of the other managers that are out there.

“I am loving life at Alloa at the moment and I said to the players before a ball was kicked (this season) let’s go and surprise everyone and let’s go and prove the doubters wrong.

“If I am here for another 100 games then fantastic and that means I am doing something right and I’ve not lost my job.

“It’s a great place to be, great people to work for, and I’ve got a great relationship with the chairman. He knows I want to go full time and I make no bones about that.

“But, at the same time, this is a great place to learn and the longer I am here, the more I will learn.”

Meanwhile, for the fourth game in a row striker Greig Spence remained as an unused substitute.

Having joined from Raith Rovers in the summer, the 26-year-old hasn’t scored since July.

But, Goodwin insisted it was the performance of others that was the reason for his lack of game time.

He said: “Greig’s a terrific striker and that’s the reason we brought him to the club.

“But, at this moment in time there’s a lot of players on my bench who can’t get into the team and that’s credit to the starting 11.”