WASPS' goal hero Ross Stewart was thrilled to get off the mark as he netted on his debut for the club.

The striker, who signed on loan from St Mirren last week until the end of the season, had been determined to hit the ground running at the Indodrill Stadium.

And his goal early in the second half proved pivotal as it handed the Wee County side a crucial League One victory over playoff rivals Stranraer.

Stewart told Advertiser Sport: "I'm obviously delighted. To get a goal on your debut is always nice but to get the goal that wins the game and seals the three points is even better.

"It was the sort of chance every striker loves and it was a pretty simple case of tapping it in from three yards out. I'll take a goal any way it comes and when it's an important goal like that it's even better.

"It doesn't matter who scores as long as the team wins but if I can chip in with a few between now and the end of my loan spell I'll be happy."

Stewart only trained with his team-mates for the first time last Thursday but manager Jim Goodwin had no hesitation in pitching the frontman in from the start in a vital encounter in the race for promotion.

The 21-year-old was aware of the magnitude of the tie and was impressed with how the Wasps performed, despite a nervy ending where the visitors threatened to snatch a leveller.

He said: "With Stranraer being right next to us in the league we knew the importance of the game and the manager emphasised that before kick-off.

"We were excellent and I thought we could have been two or three up, but in the last ten or fifteen minutes Stranraer came at us and in the end we had to dig in for the three points.

"Stranraer are a good side and they made it difficult for us, especially towards the end. We had our backs against the wall in the last few minutes but the back four were excellent and helped us to a really important three points."

The former Albion Rovers striker is determined to continue his scoring start to his loan spell when Alloa travel to Airdrieonians on Saturday, and he urged his team-mates to approach the game in the same way they prepared to face Stranraer.

Stewart added: "We've got another tough game against Airdrie. They had a great result against Ayr but we will go into the game with the same mindset as we had against Stranraer. Hopefully we can get the same result."