ALLOA boss Jim Goodwin reckons his side’s promotion to the Championship is the culmination of ten months of hard work.

The Wasps manager believes their achievement has finally started to sink in after a whirlwind end to the season which ended with the Wee County outfit earning their place in the second tier.

And he is hoping the whole community will reap the benefits of Alloa’s success.

Goodwin told Advertiser Sport: “I think it’s started to sink in now. The immediate reaction after the game is that of relief and pleasure that we’ve managed to achieve what we set out to at the start of the season. That ten months of hard work has paid off.

“I think it would have been a travesty if we hadn’t gone up given our form in the playoffs. I don’t know how we would have recovered.

“I’m really pleased for everyone connected to the club, from the fans to the board and all the people that volunteer behind the scenes. Hopefully it will benefit everyone in the surrounding communities. The pubs and shops might get busier because away fans will turn up in bigger numbers. That will have a knock-on effect on the club and the finances.

However, Goodwin admitted that he was almost immediately dreading telling some of his players they would be moving on, including a number of stars who played a key role in promotion.

He said: “About an hour after the celebrations I was already dreading the Tuesday, because what I had to do was never far from my thoughts. It’s always difficult to have that conversation with players.

“They are that good a bunch of boys that I would have loved to take them all with us but unfortunately the budget just doesn’t allow us to do that. That’s the reality of the situation. We have got to improve the squad which means we need to lose one or two along the way.

“The younger players like Adam Martin and John Cunningham need to go out and establish themselves in someone’s first team, sitting around on my bench or playing for the reserves is no use. It won’t benefit their careers, so I was trying to be as fair as I could.

“I’ve got no concerns about the senior players. They will no doubt be inundated with offers to go to other clubs and they have earned that with their performances over the course of the season. We wish them well and thank every single one of them for their efforts.”

Alloa have already managed to get several of their top performers tied down for next season, and the manager expects more to commit their immediate futures to the club in the coming days.

Goodwin added: “Iain Flannigan and Neil Parry committed on Saturday night and Kevin Cawley and Steven Hetherington have also signed. I’ll meet with Jon Robertson and Andy Graham as well and they are all committed for next season.

“Any of the new signings and targets that we eventually get will have those boys in the dressing room to thank for the opportunity.”