Spence hoping the Wasps can sting the Pars

Local boy Greig Spence is hoping to pile the misery on Dunfermline as Alloa travel to East End Park on Saturday, looking for their first win of the campaign.

Spence, who re-joined Alloa for the fourth time this summer is enjoying his football again under Jim Goodwin.

“It was a really exciting time for me last season as I was going back full-time and it was a great opportunity for myself: for the first 6 months, I loved it as I was playing every week, scoring goals and challenging for the title. However, come January, the manager brought in a few new players and went in a different direction with the team. I didn’t play as much and come the end of the season, I was deemed surplus to requirements.

For me, my phone went non-stop in the summer and I had around 12-15 offers to weigh up. if I am being honest though, going back to Alloa was what I was really wanting and hoping for. They were one of the last clubs to come in for me, but, as soon as I knew they were interested, there was only one place I was going. I feel I’ve proven myself in League One so I now need to show that I am capable of doing it at a higher level. I could easily have stayed in the lower leagues and banged in 10-15 goals a season, but, I want to challenge and test myself, so, to be going to bigger and better stadiums and coming up against a higher calibre of opposition, that definitely helped me when making my decision.”

Spence has settled in quickly with the Wasps starting the season well following their play-off victory over Dumbarton in May.

“I think if you look at our squad, we are more than capable of matching anyone in this league and I feel we have already proven that. We aren’t being dominated in this division and we have been competitive in every match we have played, but, we need to become more street-wise and take more of our chances. We are being punished for any little mistake we make, so, it is about us learning and improving.

We were really, really short of players at the beginning of pre-season, but, now the manager has brought in other guys which gives us more options and that just makes us stronger. As a striker, I was probably the only out-and-out forward in the squad but now we have a lot of strength and depth which can only be a good thing. When you blend that with guys such as Iain Flannigan, Kevin Cawley; John Robertson – players who have been with the club for a few years now and know what it takes – whose performances and consistency levels each week are top notch, it bodes well for the campaign ahead.”

Following two successive 1-1 draws with Dundee United, the Championship’s only part-time club this season will travel to East End Park to play a side which Spence knows very well.

“We need to scratch, claw and do everything we can to try stay in this league, so, any advantage we can get, we will try take. These matches are our bread and butter and we are really looking forward to it. It is a local game for me so that gives me a little added motivation as I have many, many, Dunfermline supporting-mates: I get a lot of abuse from them so I always look forward to this match as it raises my performance, especially when they are shouting abuse at you from the stands!”