Stirling Albion boss Greig McDonald says his side have ‘nothing to lose’ as they get set to clash with bitter rivals Alloa Athletic in the first round of the League Cup at Recreation Park this weekend.

McDonald’s men gave the Wasps a scare in the 3-2 defeat in the Scottish Cup last season and the Binos boss believes they will have to do that again if they are to progress this time around.

McDonald told Advertiser Sport, “The aim is go there and just be as positive as we can. There is absolutely no pressure on us because people will expect Alloa, at home and being the Championship club, to win the tie. From that we can go and give it everything we have got and try to cause an upset. Last year there wasn’t much in the game and it was settled on a couple of refereeing decisions if we are honest but that’s football. We showed we were well up for it that day and we are going to have to be again because Alloa are a very good side. We have kept the majority of our squad and then added one or two bits of quality and Alloa have done the same so it will be interesting to see where the two teams are. I will be telling my players that it is about what we do because if we play how I know we can then we will give Alloa a game.” Both sides enjoyed opening weekend wins in the Petrofac Training Cup and the wins have set them on yet another collision course in the second round of that competition but McDonald says that it makes for a great start to the season for both clubs.

The Forthbank boss admits he was impressed by the scoring exploits of Greig Spence in the 4-1 win over Arbroath but knows that Alloa have a number of players who can hurt them.

He said, “Anyone who scores a hat-trick will be full of confidence and Greig Spence is a top player and so he is a real goal threat. We had the game watched and Alloa looked very strong against Arbroath so we will have to be wary of a number of players who can hurt us and not just Spence. I know we will a good backing there from our fans and it is a good game to have so early in the season for both sets of players and fans.

“We had a good start last week. Elgin are a very good attacking side but we dealt with that threat very well then added three goals of our own and to be honest it could have been more. We will take heart from that win but it means nothing once we get to 3pm on Saturday. The second cup tie doesn’t affect things and from our point of view we have two shots at our local rivals from the division above. They are a shot to nothing for us and we have nothing to lose. Hopefully both teams can go and put on a show and put on a good entertaining football occasion.” The 32-year-old manager is looking forward to reuniting with his promotion hero from last season, David Weatherston, after he left Albion to join Alloa in the summer but he is hoping his former player misses out through injury.

McDonald added, “David is a good lad and a top player who did well for us last year. He helped us to get promotion so I am pleased for him to get his move because he wanted to play in the Championship. I believe he has been injured in pre-season so I am not sure if he will feature at the weekend but if he does play then i am sure my defenders will be in for a tough afternoon.”