SCOTT TAGGART was there for defeats to Albion Rovers, Stranraer, and Edinburgh City, but even he can't remember a time when Alloa were so far off it as they were against Ayr United.

The Honest Men eased to a 4-1 win at the Recs on Saturday as Alloa were punished for an abject first-half display.

A brace from Alan Forrest and goals from Sam Roscoe and Luke McCowan resigned Alloa to their heaviest home defeat since the Wee Rovers dished out a 5-2 thrashing back in September 2017.

The Wasps did improve in the second half, but only had a Kevin O'Hara consolation to show for it.

"It wasn't like us and the whole time I have been here I don't think as a team we have been so off it," Taggart told Advertiser Sport.

"We didn't compete at all and Ayr exploited that. Every time we turned the ball over Ayr had a shot or a corner and put us under pressure. They were very clinical.

"Giving away the penalty right at the start of the game made it an uphill battle, but it was only one and we just didn't get going after that.

"Normally we are very good at keeping ourselves in the game and fighting back, but that's now here and down at Morton that we have had a bit of a doing."

An impressive opening half against basement boys Partick Thistle aside, Alloa have yet to turn up at home this season.

They have impressed on the road, however, with wins at Dunfermline and Queen of the South, and Taggart admits he can't put his finger on their home struggles.

The 27-year-old continued: "It was a combination of us playing really badly and Ayr playing really well and it could have easily been a lot more.

"When the half-time whistle comes you go in and try and regroup and the manager obviously wasn't very happy.

"But neither were the boys and we were all a bit embarrassed by the first-half performance.

"Once they get the first goal their tails go up and they've got good players in the front areas and they know how to hurt us. They did that on Saturday.

"We go away from home and get two good results and going away should always be a wee bit tougher.

"But then we come back here and we train here and know the pitch, but we have just not managed to implement that on a Saturday."

With experience comes perspective and Taggart is sure the Wasps will recover from their tricky spell.

"We came back from bad runs last year and the years previous to that," he said. "It's a tough level and you are not going to have good games all the time.

"You are going to be up against it and at the end of the day it is always just worth three point whether you get one-nil or four-nil.

"There are boys in there who I have played with many years now and we have always bounced back after bad results and bad games."