ALLAN Maitland can’t wait for Alloa’s season to get underway at Dens Park at the weekend as they take on Dundee in the ALBA Challenge Cup.

 

The Alloa boss has put his side through their paces in pre-season and can’t wait for a return to competitive action.

He said: “I can’t wait to get started and this is why we put ourselves through pre-season and the training and this is the good part of competitive football.”

 

The Wasps beat the Dark Blues 2-1 in the same competition in 2008 at Recreation Park thanks to goals from Chris Townsley and Jamie Stevenson with Mikael Antoine Curier netting a consolation.

 

Maitland said: “There’s no doubt that as a club it is night and day for us and we have progressed hugely over the past two years.

 

“Dundee are a club that have had money to spend and are aiming to show they are capable of winning the First Division.”

 

Maitland’s game plan is to control the threat posed by Gary Harkins and Leigh Griffiths, adding: “They are both excellent players. We naturally sit in a bit deeper away from home but if we’re going to win this game we will need to keep them quiet.”

 

The future of trialists Billy Gibson, Andrew Shirra and Aaron Somerville will be decided this week and although the boss has made up his mind he will tell the players first before making the decisions public.

 

The team’s final warm-up game is against Pollok although fans have been warned not to expect a balanced team.

 

He said: “It will be a strange team because our players from the east of Scotland won’t make it in time including John Grant, Darren Smith, Kevin McDonald and Stuart Noble.

 

“I was pleased with the match against Bo’ness because we played at a high tempo.
“We didn’t do that on Saturday.

 

“I just felt overall we didn’t put enough into the game although I was happy with the clean sheet.”

 

Wasps defender Scot Buist made the controversial switch to rivals Stirling Albion last week.

 

However, Maitland said: “It doesn’t bother me who he went to. Whether it’s David Crawford or Scot Buist as soon as they leave Alloa then I’m not interested who they join.”