DARIO Zanatta admits he always felt Alloa was the best place for him as he signed on for another six months in Clackmannanshire.

The Canadian youngster was named the Championship player of the month for the first time after hitting a purple patch of form in December.

The Hearts loanee scored three in three - including a memorable last minute winner against Dundee United - to fire the Wasps up to eighth in the table.

And after agreeing to extend his stay with Jim Goodwin’s part timers, Zanatta insisted he only ever wanted to remain in Alloa.

He told Advertiser Sport: “I had a few options from other teams in the league but I felt as if Alloa was the right place for me.

“At the start of the season they showed interest in me and gave me the chance so I was not about to jump ship.

“There was no point in me going back to Hearts at the moment. I need to be playing games to continue growing in confidence.

“So I just want to do well here in the next six months and hopefully play in the Premiership next season.”

The Canadian youngster has proven a hit for the Wasps and has become a key part of Jim Goodwin’s eighth place side scoring six goals in 22 appearances.

Zanatta was one of five loaness snapped up by Goodwin ahead of Alloa’s return to the Championship as he joined Liam Burt, Connor Shields, Sam Roscoe, and Jake Hastie on six month deals.

Hastie and Burt have already returned to their parent clubs - Motherwell and Rangers, respectively - while Roscoe signed an extension on his deal at the start of the week.

Now, with his short term future secured, the striker was full or praise for boss Goodwin and urged his side to look up the table rather than down.

He continued: “The manager gives confidence to all the players and I think the style of play suits me.

“We may be the only part-time team in the league but you can’t tell that in the games we’ve played.

“The highlight of December has got to be the winner against Dundee United as it is one of the best goals I have scored and my family were here to see it so that was really nice.

“The most important part for us is to stay in this league and in the last month in particular we have shown we are competitive by picking up more points.

“But we want to look forward. Dunfermline are only four points ahead of us and we’ve shown we can compete with them so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be looking up the table.”