ANDY GRAHAM promised a "big improvement" from Alloa's players after their league opener ended with defeat to Peterhead.

The Wasps were soundly beaten 2-0 in the north-east thanks to goals from Russell McLean and Niah Payne in their first match in the third tier for three seasons.

Club captain Graham pulled no punches after the lacklustre defeat, describing the players' performance as "miles off it".

And the long-serving skipper promised a big reaction when the Wasps return to the Indodrill Stadium to face East Fife on Saturday.

"We are really disappointed and we are all hurting," Graham told Advertiser Sport.

"You can blame whoever you want but it's the players who go out there and deliver, or in this case don't. That's as much as you can say about it.

"We weren't at the races and Peterhead fully deserved the win. Now, myself and the boys need to see if we can get a reaction this week, and, hopefully, we will put in a much, much better performance against East Fife."

Despite the loss to Peterhead, and a disappointing league cup campaign, Graham firmly believes there have been positive signs from their opening games.

The skipper vowed to work hard to find the key to unlocking some improved performances to kick-start the Wasps' bid for an immediate return to the Championship.

"We have shown that we can do that if we work hard," he added. "Against Raith and Livingston we had good spells so it is there. We just need to figure out how to produce it on Saturday and get the season started properly.

"The players know we were miles off it and I include myself in that. I would never exclude myself and I know it wasn't good enough.

"It's a shock to the system when you have a performance like that. Every single person has got to go away and have a look at themselves because it was absolutely not good enough, and there is a big improvement needed from all of us."