STEVEN BUCHANAN carved out a major personal milestone recently as he scored his first senior goal for the club.

The 20-year-old bagged Alloa's equaliser in the 3-1 win over Stenhousemuir in the League Cup last Tuesday.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, the youngster said it was "amazing" to open his account for the Wasps and reflected on his time at the club so far.

"It was amazing," Buchanan said. "I've been waiting a while for it and now it's finally came.

"I've been at Alloa since I joined in the U13s, which was about eight years ago.

"I signed for the senior team in March 2022. Then, after I came back from injury, I started with them at the start of the season last year."

Buchanan came off the bench to replace Ross MacIver in the 2022-2023 League Cup group stage against East Fife for his first senior competitive appearance.

He played the last half hour of the match, which ended as a 1-1 draw before Alloa prevailed on penalties.

Since this year's League Cup campaign has started, Buchanan has excelled as right wing back and has earned significant praise from manager Brian Rice.

Speaking after the Stirling Albion game, which opened the group stage, Rice said: "There are some positives from tonight – Steven Buchanan probably had his best game for us.

"He put some great balls in especially during the first half."

Buchanan's form continued into the Stenhousemuir game, whipping in some excellent balls into the box and topping off his performance with a goal.

The Callander man said it was a great feeling to have the manager's backing and hailed it as a positive sign he was going in the right direction.

Buchanan added: "It gives you a lot of confidence when the manager is speaking about you like that.

"I feel like it did get me going a fair bit for the Stenhousemuir game – obviously, I scored my goal and had a lot of confidence running on the ball.

"Hopefully, we're ready for the league to start this Saturday against Queen of the South.

"I'm feeling confident in myself that I can hopefully start to help the team win games."

Alloa begin their League One campaign this Saturday, with a visit to Queen of the South in Dumfries.