ALLOA boss Peter Grant says the team's relegation will hurt him until the day he dies.

Following the confirmation of the club's relegation after the defeat to Raith Rovers last weekend, Alloa travelled to Cappielow and the match ended in a draw.

Speaking after the match, Grant praised his players for their effort in trying to play on a poor surface.

He said: "The team tried to play, the conditions are so tough. That's no disrespect to the groundsman, I thought we dealt with it well and tried to play.

"[Then] the old Achilles heel comes back: set-play. Far too many of them have done us this season, and I don't think the boys deserved it. I think once we went in front we should have stayed in front."

In the dying minutes Alloa had a strong penalty claim denied and Grant believes it's due to the honesty of his players.

He continued: "I think what sums up the honesty of the boys is Liam Buchanan. It's a stonewall penalty, you hear the clout and he doesn't go down. He said he knows he should have went down, but Liam's not like that.

"But, I think that's still got to be a penalty kick. [Also] Scott Taggart gets his shirt ripped off but the referee gives it to the defender and says the two of you are at it. Well, how's it not a penalty then?

"Last week we're 1-0 up, doing ever so well. goalkeeper gets sent off, they get a goal, score another goal when we're adjusting the team and you find yourself 2-1 down and then the red card gets rescinded.

"So that's what the boys have had to deal with and they've kept going and trying to play the way they're trying to play, I can't give them enough credit. I'm really, really chuffed with them and so disappointed we couldn't get the victory."

Alan Trouten departed early with an apparent hamstring injury and Grant says he hopes it's not serious.

"He's struggling with his hamstring," Grant said. "He's missed training a couple of times but unfortunately it's his opposite hamstring, I don't know if that's just because he's trying to balance it out. God willing he's caught it in time and it's not a tear."

Friday will see Dunfermline visit the Indodrill for Grant's last game as Alloa manager and they'll look for three points.

He said: "From the first day I came in that'll be the way I go out the door is preparing to win matches. That's what we've always done, prepare these boys to win matches.

"They train to win matches, I feel gutted for them that they've not got more victories than they deserve, I think we've deserved a lot more victories but at the end of the day unfortunately that's not been the case.

"We've not won enough games to keep us in the league and that'll hurt me until the day I die. That's the way football is, that's what football does to you."