Alloa Athletic chairman Mike Mulraney has spoke of his delight after sealing a deal to appoint Danny Lennon as the club’s next manager.

The Wasps have been without a manager since the shock departure of Barry Smith last month and the club owner hopes the move can give the whole squad a lift following their heavy 4-0 defeat to Livingston in the Petrofac Cup final last weekend.

Lennon, who has signed a deal until the summer of 2016 with the Clackmannanshire outfit, brings a wealth of experience to the role having excelled at this level with Cowdenbeath before going on to win the League Cup with St Mirren and guiding them to their highest league position in recent times and Mulraney hopes he can bring similar success to his Wee County side.

Mulraney told Advertiser sport: “We are absolutely thrilled to get Danny into the club because he has been the one that I wanted from the get go. It has been a while in coming, but we had to go the extra distance to get the man that we wanted and we have done that now. We have our first pick now from a huge range of top candidates.

“Danny has a fantastic track record in the game, he has done it with part-time clubs and full-time clubs, he’s fought against clubs with bigger budgets than him so I just felt it was worth the wait to get him. The moment I spoke to him about the role it only confirmed that he was the right man to take us forward with his enthusiasm and passion that makes you immediately believe in him.

“It will be a huge lift to everyone at the club to get someone of Danny’s calibre in and I feel like it’s an outstanding appointment for the club. We seem to have a track record of shocking people in a good way at the moment, but we are simply good at getting who we want.” The former Buddies gaffer, who has been overseeing the Scotland U21s on a temporary basis recently, won’t be in charge for Alloa’s clash away to champions Heart of Midlothian on Wednesday evening, as the chairman confirmed Paddy Connolly will remain in charge of first team affairs, but he does hope his new man will be able to hit the ground running for his first game in charge on Saturday when Dumbarton are the visitors to the Indodrill Stadium.

He said: “Danny will be at the game on Wednesday, but Paddy will still take the team. The cup final was a huge disappointment for everyone at the club, but it didn’t effect my decision. I wanted my manager in as soon as I could get him and this was the earliest we could tie it up. He will then take charge properly on Thursday morning in preparation for a huge game with Dumbarton on Saturday and hopefully he can hit the ground running. Paddy will remain with the club as well. He is a great guy to have at the club, he’s done a tremendous job for us the last few weeks and we are lucky to have him.“ Alloa captain Ben Gordon believes it is a bold appointment from the club and hopes it can give them a real boost in their push for survival in the SPFL Championship for another season.

He added: “It is great news to get Danny in and it comes at a good time for us now after the disappointment of the cup final so hopefully it can give everyone a real lift for the league run-in now.

“He’s well thought of in the game and that can only be a good thing for Alloa. Everyone now has a fresh start with the new gaffer and that is probably what we need going forward.”