ALLOA player-manager Jim Goodwin says it is vital his side start to put pressure on leaders Livingston if they are to have any chance of closing the gap at the top of the League One table.

The Wasps have fallen behind Livi in recent weeks and Goodwin admitted his side’s title rivals deserve credit for their surge to the League One summit.

But he insisted that his players will do all they can to catch the Lions, starting on Saturday against Queen’s Park.

Goodwin told Advertiser Sport: “The Queen’s Park game is a big one but to be honest, every game is a cup final between now and the end of the season. We have to win as many games as we can to keep the pressure on Livingston. That has to be our main aim. Defensively, if we can keep clean sheets, that is a good base to build on because we know we have goals in the team. We just have to keep things tight. We can certainly go into the game with a lot of confidence.

“It does become more difficult to catch them the longer we go without starting a winning run. Livingston have been very consistent and deserve credit for the position they are in just now. They deserve to be there but we will keep doing everything we can to put pressure on them between now and the end of the season. We are relying on them slipping up but we will keep plugging away and see where it takes us.”

Goodwin will once again be without goalkeeper Neil Parry, who faces another month on the sidelines while he recovers from a broken finger, but he expects Stefan McCluskey and Frank McKeown, who have been struggling with injury and illness, to be fit.

He said: “Neil is looking at another four weeks out. Stefan took a knock against Albion Rovers and wasn’t quite right against Livingston, and Frank has had a flu bug so we thought it best for him to stay away for the week to avoid the rest of the boys catching it. But we are confident those two will be ok for the Queen’s Park game.”

Goodwin has taken himself out of the squad in recent weeks in order to focus on his managerial duties, but the midfielder has not ruled out pulling his boots back on in the future.

He added: “I want to fully focus on the managerial side of things just now and I think the best way to do that is to take myself out of the side. If need be I will bring myself back in but it has got to be what’s best for the time. If the time comes where suspensions and injuries start to build up then I will consider it. I still train every night with the boys but I just feel that to give myself the best chance of being successful as a manager at the moment, I can have a bigger impact from the sidelines.”