JIM GOODWIN is still hopeful of securing one or two more loans signings ahead of the impending transfer deadline.

The Alloa boss added Hearts winger Dario Zanatta to his side last week as the Canadian youth international joined Jake Hastie in making the switch from a Scottish Premiership club.

And this week the Irishman told the Advertiser that his sole focus was now on bringing in players on loan to the Indodrill Stadium.

The 36-year-old said: “We are working on a couple of another loans. If we get another couple added to the squad, I’ll be really, really pleased and that will get us to the 18 in the squad mark I am looking for.

“We had been working on trying to get some players on loan from clubs down south. But, that hasn’t come to fruition as much as I would have liked.

“I thought we were offering a decent opportunity for some players down south, but we are competing with some other part time teams that are a little bit more local.

“But, we’ve got right up until the end of the month, so we will do all we can to make sure the club is as strong as it can possibly be.

“There are no free transfers out there for us. So, unless we get a call from a club saying such and such is free, then it will be loans we are working on.”

The Wasps enjoyed a weekend off as it was the last 16 of the Betfred Cup and the side had failed to escape a group containing the likes of Ross County and Dundee United.

And, inevitably, Alloa are set to face Dundee United in another cup competition after they were drawn against the Terrors in the second round of the Irn Bru Cup.

Both sides are no strangers to one another, having also faced off in last year’s Irn Bru Cup second round, the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, and this year’s aforementioned Betfred Cup group stages.

In last year’s Irn Bru Cup, it was Dundee United who came out on top as Patrick N’Koyi, Paul McMullan and Willo Flood cancelled out Kevin Cawley’s equaliser at Tannadice.

But, speaking after Alloa’s 3-1 derby triumph over Stirling Albion in the first round of the Irn Bru Cup last week, Goodwin admitted he was delighted with the effort his side had shown so far this season.

He said: “I thought it was a decent performance overall. For 70 minutes of the game, we were excellent.

“We did drop our standards in the second half and that allowed Stirling Albion that little bit of sniff of hope with the goal that we conceded.

“Overall, the boys have been great and worked so hard. Obviously, we are still light on numbers and there’s been a real extra demand on them.

“But, they’ve been brilliant.”

The manager used the match as a chance to experiment with his defence and played Liam Dick beside Andy Graham at centre back.

He added: “I think defensively, we have been relatively solid. Unless something really special came along I am not overly concerned with that area of the pitch.

“Zach Karadachki has started well in that area of the pitch, but he’s still got a wee bit to learn.

“The other night, I tried out Liam and Andy to see how they would be if anything happened and they were excellent.”

Alloa face Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Championship on Saturday at the Indodrill Stadium. Kick off is at 3pm.