Alloa new boy Michael Chopra has vowed to give his all to keep them in the SPFL Championship this season.

The former Newcastle United, Cardiff City and Sunderland striker has incredibly never won a major honour in his glittering career in England and abroad, but now hopes he can put that right if he gets the chance to guide his new club to glory in the Petrofac Cup Final against Livingston on 5 April.

The 31-year-old has just returned from a stint playing out in India and despite the shock in the world of football to his arrival in Clackmannanshire, the man himself revealed he jumped at the chance to come and test himself in Scotland.

Chopra told Advertiser sport: “I had been looking to get back into football once the season finished in India, I was looking around the leagues to see what was available – last week I had been training with Port Vale, but then I got a phone call on Monday night asking if I would like to come to Alloa Athletic and I jumped at the chance. Obviously, it is a new challenge for me because I’ve not played in Scotland before. I know it will be a challenge, but I want to do my best to keep Alloa Athletic in the Championship and it’s a challenge I will take with both hands.

“I will do my best to maintain their status and also try and help them win a trophy as well. You look at the fixtures and results Alloa Athletic have had against the bigger teams in the Championship – they beat Hibernian, have drawn with Rangers home and away and been very close against Hearts.

“You just have to look at the last few weeks and the team have only been losing by one goal which is good because obviously they have a very good team spirit and players who want to work hard and with me coming in it will be up to me to try and help the team out. Hopefully I can try to get a goal or two which has been missing and that will take pressure of the players and aim to get some wins in the remaining matches for the club.” Chopra brings a wealth of knowledge to the Wee County side having played at the highest level of the game in England and he hopes to pass on some of that wisdom to some of Alloa’s younger stars in the coming weeks.

He said: “I hope to pass on my experience to the younger players at the club, I remember when I was a youngster at Newcastle United, I was playing with more experienced players like Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and Patrick Kluivert. They passed on to me some great experience and that is why I am the player I am today and I will be looking to help all the young players at Alloa Athletic and pass on my experience and coming towards the end of the season you do need points, it is not all about performances, you just have to roll your sleeves up and dig in. I’m not suggesting the players have not done that, but they might need that little bit of extra experience and hopefully I can bring that along.” The experienced hitman made his debut for the club in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox with a brief cameo at the end of a memorable night for his new club, but he revealed that the occasion didn’t phase him because he had played and scored at Ibrox once before with the Toon Army.

He added: “I played at Ibrox when I was younger with Newcastle United and I scored in that game in front of a packed crowd so I knew what to expect before hand, but it was great to get out there with my new team mates and I can’t wait to get going properly now.”