WHEN Alan Trouten picked up an injury and defeat to Morton made it five without a win, even the most ardent of the Alloa faithful must have doubted their Championship survival prospects.
Step forward Kevin O'Hara, whose seven goals and three doubles on the bounce in the five games since have given the Wasps real hope of retaining their second-tier status once again.
O'Hara's form has been particularly pleasing for his team-mates, who have revelled in seeing the former Falkirk man nab the headlines during Alloa's return to winning ways.
Steven Hetherington has been lucky to play alongside a number of fine Wee County attackers in his time at the club and he believes the Wasps' style of play is the perfect ammunition for forward men.
"I am delighted for Kevin because I know he only scored a couple of goals at first and was going through a bit of a dry spell," Hetherington told Advertiser Sport.
"He was still valuable to us and was doing his bit and even when he wasn't scoring, he's not one of these strikers who doesn't do anything. He works his nuts off up top and still provides.
"In recent times, especially with Trouts (Alan Trouten) being injured, he's just stepped up to the plate and it's good to see because of the hard work he has put in all season.
"The forward players have always been given the freedom to go and create stuff for us since I have been there because we have the defence and the midfield solidity.
"Flanny (Iain Flannigan) is obvious a wee bit more creative than myself and will creep forward, but the back four let's the attacking players express themselves.
"Kev chases down a lot of lost causes for us and he works hard. We need that basis of working for each other."
The Wasps' survival bid was given another boost after O'Hara's latest brace helped them to a 3-2 win over Queen of the South in Dumfries.
READ MORE: O'Hara thanks Alloa and Peter Grant for chance to make amends
He scored either side of Robert Thomson's first league goal of the season as Alloa overcame a spirited fightback from Allan Johnston's side, with Stephen Dobbie and Jack Hamilton levelling matters in the second-half.
"It was pretty nuts really," Hetherington, 26, said. "We started well in the match and there wasn't much in it in terms of the play and the actual aspect of the game.
"It wasn't the best quality of game, really, although you might think otherwise if you just look at the score and see it was 3-2.
"(Their goals) gave us a reaction, however, and we changed our shape to try and get Kev back up top. When we went back to that, we were comfortable again and Kev's winner was a great bit of work.
"We need to manage it a wee bit better when we go do 2-0 up and where we want to be - out of the relegation zone - we can't afford to give teams chances to get back into matches.
"We need to take that lesson into the coming games but it obviously showed good character that we didn't just accept it and still found a way to win.
"If we want to do what we did last year, we need to be a wee bit better in that situation and just see the game out.
"It would have been easy to collapse when you are pegged back to 2-2 away from home. Some teams would have just accepted it and taken the point, but we knew there was a chance to win the game."
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