CRAIG MALCOLM admitted his relief at scoring his first league goal for Alloa after finding the net in his side's 4-0 victory over Queen's Park.

The striker has endured a tough start to life with the Wasps due to injury, but has returned to the starting lineup in recent weeks and finally opened his League One account last Saturday.

Now the ex-Stranraer forward is aiming to go on a scoring run and help propel the Wee County side up the table.

Malcolm told Advertiser Sport: "I was relieved to get that one out the way because it has been a long time coming. It's been a pretty frustrating start for me in terms of picking up niggling injuries.

"It's been good to be able to get some game time and now that I've got the first goal out the way, hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few more over the rest of the season."

Alloa have now picked up two wins in a row, scoring eight goals and conceding just one, and Malcolm reckons the confidence in the dressing room is already higher than it was at the end of the first quarter.

He said: "A couple of good results always boosts the confidence. We've only had two wins in a row but we're now only two points off the playoffs.

"The back-to-back wins are so important because they will give us a bit of momentum to try and catch the teams just above us."

Last Saturday's win lifted the Wasps to within two points of the playoff places, and Malcolm says it's vital they keep their momentum going as they continue their charge up the standings.

He added: "By the end of the weekend we could be sitting in the top four so it's very important that we keep the momentum going into the Airdrie game.

"The fans were a bit frustrated over the first nine or ten games, and rightly so because we weren't firing on all cylinders.

"Hopefully over the last couple of games they have seen a different side to us and are a lot happier with that."