Alloa star Graeme Holmes admitted his red card in Sundays playoff final second leg could have cost his side dearly after they overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Forfar.

Alloa star Graeme Holmes admitted his red card in Sundays playoff final second leg could have cost his side dearly after they overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Forfar.

The 31-year-old was shown a straight red card by referee Willie Collum for a tackle on Omar Kader late in the game, and admitted the remainder of the match was the longest 15 minutes of his life.

However, the Wasps refused to let the sending off affect them and sealed the aggregate victory with Daryll Meggatt’s late goal, despite their disadvantage.

Holmes told Advertiser Sport: “I can see why the referee has given it. It was high but I’m not going in to try and hurt the boy. I knew how fast he was and the speed he hit the ground maybe didn’t help me as I think his head hit the deck as well.

“But I’m not trying to hurt him in any way, I’m just trying to trip him but it was high so I can see why he has given it and I don’t think it’s maybe as controversial as some people are saying. If it was a different player it’s maybe only a yellow card as they probably won’t fall like that.

“It was a long, long 15 minutes, the longest of my life. I spent the time thinking about what I was going to say to the boys, not because I didn’t have confidence in them but it could have changed the game. It would have been just like the story of our season if we hadn’t held on but maybe that’s the bit of luck we’ve been needing. Maybe me getting sent off actually helped them! But thankfully everything worked out for us anyway.

The midfielder insisted that the Wasps fully deserved their playoff victory despite losing the first leg 3-1 at Station Park on Wednesday.

He said: “I think whoever wins the tie over the two legs deserves it. If they had come back and scored to make it 2-1 you would have had to say they deserved it, but I think whoever manages to stay up or go up, whatever way you play, deserves to. Obviously we tried to put some emphasis on passing the ball and trying to get into holes with Chops, Kev and Flanny.

“The goal before half time was just massive for us and it was Chops who stepped up and delivered for us, but overall I felt we deserved to win. I think if you go out and win 3-0 you can’t really deny that.

The former Dunfermline and Morton man praised his team-mates and admitted several of them would be deserving of a move away from the Indodrill Stadium.

Holmes added: “We’ve got a great core squad here. The boys have had a great few years, but obviously we don’t know what will happen yet. Daryll’s definitely getting a move, and I’d expect boys like Ben, Spark and Bucks, who have all impressed this year, to maybe get a chance at full-time football next season.

“Ben in particular has done brilliantly and I don’t think he’s had full-time football since he was at St Mirren as a young boy so he definitely deserves his chance. The biggest thing for me is how much he has improved since he came here and I first saw him, and I think he has earned his chance to go on and play at a higher level.

“Obviously it is important that we manage to keep the core of the squad together but the manager will have his interpretation of how he wants to play and he’ll maybe feel that players don’t fit into that system.

“He might look to bring younger boys in and get rid of the older ones, but it’s been a great four years and it’s fitting that even the boys who won’t be here next year will be going out on a high after that.

“If it hadn’t happened it might have left a sour taste but it’s a great ending for any of the boys who do move on.”