Alloa Athletic boss Barry Smith has dubbed his side’s clash with relegation rivals Cowdenbeath as a ‘must win' game as he prepares his side for battle at Central Park this weekend.

The Wasps have gone 12 games without a win in the SPFL Championship and the gaffer admits they must now look to end that sequence by any means necessary in Fife on Saturday.

Smith told Advertiser sport: “We know this is a big game and one we need to win, but it is a challenge that both myself and the players are looking forward to. We just have to go there, be positive and make sure we come away with three points. I think we can take confidence from our record there in the recent past. We had a great result there earlier in the campaign and now we look for more of the same. We have said that we have been playing well for a big part of the season now, but the most important thing now is points. We always try to take the positives from performances with the players and there is very few games where we have been overwhelmed by our opponents, but now it is crucial that our performances start turning into points.” Stephen Simmons is a major doubt for the match after pulling up in training with an ongoing hip problem, while Kyle Benedictus is also doubtful after picking up a knock in 1-0 defeat at QoS last weekend.

The on-loan Dundee defender will miss the home clash with Hibernian in a week's time as well following his dismissal at Palmerston Park last weekend.

One boost for Smith, however, is the return of influential duo Ben Gordon and Ryan McCord from suspension, but it has now given the manager food for thought over his selection.

He added: “It is great to have Ben back because he is a leader on the pitch for us, but Jason came in and did very last week which shows just how competitive our squad is now. Ryan comes back into the fold as well and it is a nice selection headache to have because the players know that they have to be at their best to stay in the team and ultimately that will decide who plays on Saturday.”