BRIAN RICE heaped praise on both the players and the fans as Alloa secured a playoff spot after their 4-0 win at Montrose.

The Wasps needed just a point as they travelled to Montrose to be guaranteed a chance for promotion, but had their sights set on all three.

Kevin Cawley opened the scoring and two goals from Conor Sammon bookended a superb strike from Murray Miller to make it four to the visitors.

The Alloa gaffer was delighted with the result, lauding his team for earning their playoff spot amongst some top teams.

Rice told Advertiser Sport: “The game went very well. We deserved to win, we had a lot of good performances.

“We were under difficult circumstances, needing a point to win, but I’m delighted with the team.

“I spoke last week about the fans getting behind us – we had a fantastic away support who got right behind the team.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking for, they were absolutely fantastic, they were vocal and they got right behind the boys and we really appreciate it.”

Rice has praised League One in the past, noting how competitive the league can be and insisting any team can beat any other team.

“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get promoted. It was always going to be very difficult because of the league we’re in.”

“This is the best League One I’ve ever seen,” Rice added. “It’s full of quality teams, four full team clubs [Dunfermline, Falkirk, Airdrie and Queen of the South], high standards across the board.

“It’s a fantastic achievement for us and now that we’re in there, we need to see if we can win the playoffs.

“We’ll be the underdogs – there’s no doubt about that – but we just need to go and give it the best shot that we can.”

As things currently stand, Alloa will be joined in the playoffs by Falkirk and Airdrie, who sit at second and third in League One, respectively.

The fourth team, who will be competing to remain in the Scottish Championship, will go right down to the final day, with any one of Arbroath, Cove Rangers and Hamilton in contention.

While Alloa will be keeping one eye on the playoffs, the Wasps will also host Dunfermline on the last day of the season, who were crowned League One winners a couple weeks ago.

Rice maintains his goal will be to win the game, but the playoffs will be present in his mind when lining up for the fixture.

“We’ll be wanting to win the game,” he added. “I’m sure Dunfermline will be wanting to win their last game.

“They’ve only been beaten once this season and that’s a fantastic record.

“Obviously, we’ve got one eye on the playoffs – it’s going to be difficult picking a team that we’ll be wanting to win the game with but also keep an eye on some injuries we’re dealing with and maybe try fresh it up a little bit.

“We’ll just have to see, we’ll see how training goes and we’ll see how the boys are and it’ll be later in the week before we decide what we’re going to do.”

Alloa’s route in the playoffs will be mapped out clearer after Saturday, with the Wasps currently tied on points with third place Airdrie, who face FC Edinburgh on the final day.

If Alloa were to overtake them and finish third, the Wasps would face Falkirk in the first playoff match, a fixture that has proven tough for Alloa in the past.

From there, the winner of that tie would face either Airdrie or the ninth-placed Championship club in the playoff final for a chance to play in the Championship next season.

As Rice said, Alloa will be the underdogs, but it will be a challenge the Wasps will be looking forward to, particularly after losing out on the playoffs by just six points last season.