It's the best I’ve seen us play, says Stenhousemuir boss Irons

The Stenny boss saw his side exit the Betfred Cup after a 4-2 defeat away at Alloa who progressed to the knock out stages after finishing as one of the four best runners up from eight table in the competition.

And even though he saw his makeshift side surrender a two-goal half time lead, Irons says the performance has given him huge confidence for the rest of thr season.

“It might sound a bit strange but I was absolutely delighted with our performance,” he says.

“We were 2-0 up at half time and (Alloa boss) Peter Grant even said himself it wouldn't have been an injustice if we had been four or five up.

“The first half is the best I have seen Stenhousemuir play in my time at the club, so I was delighted.

“Obviously we lost goals in the second half, but overall, against a Championship side, I thought the boys were excellent.

“It was a really good test. Obviously they were hoping to qualify which they ultimately did and had gone into the game taking it seriously.

“We had a couple of suspensions and a couple of Covid-related issues, so we were quite depleted. We had five 18-year-olds playing, so it's a real credit to them.

“It was a real makeshift side, our regular striker had to play centre half, so the game was going to be tough for us but the boys responded magnificently.

“They were absolutely outstanding.”

Irons says that one of the plus points to take from Saturday is that the youngsters have forced him to rethink his plans for the coming weekend.

“I had a number of young boys making their first starts at Alloa and they all did really well,” he said.

“The best thing for me is I now know I can trust them to play if we need them, which I'm sure we will at some stage in the season.

“I can rely on them so it was a good exercise all round.

“I said to them, the best thing you've done today is given me a selection headache for Saturday's match against Annan.

“It's going to be a difficult side to pick.”

He now hopes to see his side take the same level of performance into this Saturday’s home league clash with Annan Athletic at Ochilview.

Stenny sit second equal in the table on eight points along with Stirling Albion, with Annan four points behind in sixth.

"The league is the be all and end all for us,” he says, “we were never going to win the Betfred Cup.

"We want to keep our best performances for the league.

“Annan is going to be a tough game for us, They've had some good results this season already.

“They've beaten Hamilton in the cup, they scored five against Albion Rovers last week so it's going to be tough but we're looking forward to it, especially after Saturday's performance.”

He addded: “I'm now more confident than ever that I've got a good group of players here.”