CRAIG HOWIE believes Alloa's never say die attitude on Saturday sums up the mentality of the dressing room.

Howie, who has missed the majority of the season so far, came on at half time against his former club and believes the victory was well deserved.

Speaking exclusively to Advertiser Sport, he shared the message Brian Rice gave the squad at the interval: "We just needed to get our foot on the ball again.

"Probably the first 20 minutes was the best we've played in a while, Luke Donnelly was flying, everyone was popping the ball around and then we lost our way a wee bit.

"There was a few choice words said by the gaffer but really [the message was] just to get the ball back down and start playing again because we know we're a good team when we do get the ball down.

"I don't want to jinx it, but very rarely do we draw games and it's because the gaffer and all the players want to win.

"Sometimes when you play like that you'll lose some games but, like Saturday, sometimes it'll go in your favour and if you end the game with four strikers on the park then you deserve everything you get."

Howie is thoroughly enjoying being part of this Alloa squad and is glad his injury woes are behind him.

He said: "It's a really good team to be a part of. Even as a defender your first job is to defend but all our players are really good football players, they like to get on the ball.

"It's been a long beginning to the season, I think it was only one week into pre-season when I pulled up. I don't know how long it's been [since that incident, and an operation] but it's just good to get some minutes again back on the park.

"I've been training and available for the last three or four weeks, been getting eased in.

"I feel ready to start but I appreciate I've got a lot of catching up to do and it's a really good squad we've got there so I'm biding my time and when I get the chance I'm really looking to do well when I come on."

There was no love lost against his former employer with a few crunching challenges coming Howie's way.

He said: "It was the exact same the last time we played them. It's just part and parcel of the game, I got a bit of stick from the fans but as long as we get the three points that's all that matters."

Alloa's attitude under Rice is to always go out to win and Howie believe it's the perfect style for the club.

He said: "We seen last year when we tried to be a more defensive team it doesn't suit us and it doesn't suit the way Alloa as a club has ever played either. I think for an Alloa

manager, and the players we've got at the moment, you just need to go out to win every game."

Alloa now sit in one of the play-off positions but Howie knows just how tough this league is going to be.

He said: "The league is so tight, everyone can beat everyone. If you try and play for draws or to nick wins then you're going to be on the wrong end of a lot of results so I personally feel going out to attack is the way forward.

"This year is tighter than I've ever seen it. You could finish seventh or eighth this year and you could look at your results and have a good points tally, it's just because there's such quality in the league.

"It will be tough to even be in the play-offs but even this result shows there's a real determination to the team. If we keep doing what we're doing we'll be there or thereabouts.

"You can see Dunfermline at the top just now but we're only six points behind and we probably feel as though we should have done better against them in the two games.

!We've got them another two times, you win them and you've clawed the gap back so we just need to keep doing what we're doing."