ALLOA boss Peter Grant has accused his players of being too nice and says they need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

The 4-1 scoreline against Dunfermline does not reflect the performance, but Grant bemoaned the fact that his side have given away easy goals for the second game in a row.

The defeat leaves Alloa joint bottom of the table after two games and they now have a two-week break before their next league match.

"It's the same old story," Grant tells Advertiser Sport: "The teams haven't worked hard to score against us.

"It's probably mixed emotions because I thought a lot of the stuff was very good. But I was saying the same last week when we lost the game, I'm saying the same this week when we lose the game: just poor, poor goals.

"You can't legislate for that no matter what level you're at and I said that to the players. I don't want to be a nice team and everybody raves about the way you play or whatever, you need an aggression about you and that comes from a desire not to concede.

"I know we've got a lot of young players just learning their trade but that is definitely a lesson to learn in your trade. You've got to stand toe-to-toe at times.

"Games are won in both boxes, that's what everybody says. The same at Morton last week, we had five or six great opportunities that we missed.

"Today, again, a great double-save, you've got to give the keeper credit but there's a couple of other chances. A couple of balls across the box that we didn't have that ruthlessness and that's what we've got to have.

"Opponents are going to get chances but you've got to get your chances and take your chances and we didn't do that.

"Obviously, we haven't defended well enough today in an important period of the game."

Grant was booked for the second game in a row for voicing his frustrations with the refereeing performance and says his team need to be "street-wise."

He added: "[The boys] have set the standard with the way they play, they're a joy to work with, I can't speak highly enough of them. I can see the disappointment, hear it, but there's just wee basics that they don't know and they're too nice.

"I don't mean you've got to be a bad lad to win games of football but you've got to have an aggressiveness about you and be street-wise. We should have had a penalty, we don't even shout for a foul.

"I'm thinking to the boys: are you sure? I've had more bookings than the players."

Grant continued: "I hope people understand my frustration because I know the referee's job and the linesman's job [are] so difficult and I would never be one in 100 years.

"If that's the job they select to do, they've got to do it right. That's the thing that disappoints me but it wasn't them that cost us the goals we conceded today, it was our players that cost us the goals and that's something we have to look at it and get much better at."