ALLOA will be hoping to start their route to the Scottish Championship strongly as they host Hamilton in the first leg of the promotion playoffs.

Andy Graham’s side welcome the Accies back to the Recs, their reward for finishing in third place in League One.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Tuesday’s game.

 

Form guide

The Wasps go into the playoff clash off the back of a 2-2 draw with League champions Falkirk, coming within five minutes of putting their invincible season to an end.

Before that, they played Accies in a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, with Kevin O’Hara’s freak goal the difference in a very even game.

Hamilton visit the Recs having been on the beach since the end of March, ticking off games until the season came to an end.

They finished their League One campaign with a 4-1 win over Kelty Hearts and have won their last three games.

 

Recent meetings

The four games between the two sides this season have all been extremely close ties. Three of the four have been decided by a solitary goal, while one played out in a goalless draw.

These fine margins will give both sides optimism ahead of the first leg, with each team eager to take an early lead.

Two of the meetings have gone to the wire, with Joe McGlynn winning it for Accies in September while Jon Robertson popped up with his first goal in years to seal three points in February.

 

Team news

Andy Graham has confirmed that the only player who will not be involved is Jon Robertson, who picked up a slight knock in the last game against Hamilton.

While not a serious injury, these games come too soon for Robertson to full recover, ruling him out of both legs.

Meanwhile, David Devine was afforded 45 minutes in the first half against Falkirk as he comes back from his injury against Stirling Albion.

“We’re all good to go,” Graham told Advertiser Sport. “Robbo picked up a tiny niggle from the Hamilton game, just landed awkwardly  on his heel.

“It’s nothing serious but at this stage of the season, it’s frustrating as there isn’t enough time to let it recover.

“Apart from him, it looks good. We always planned on having David Devine only play 45 minutes but he said he felt great after Falkirk.

“We’re looking like a full complement going into the game which is great, it gives me options as a manager and it’ll be tough between now and then to pick the team.

"That’s how well the squad have done over the past couple games, they’ve given me a lot of food for thought.”

 

From the dugout

“We’re not in the playoffs to make up the numbers,” Graham added. “Just like Saturday, we were seen as just there to turn up on Saturday.

“The squad isn’t like that and they reacted to that and we’re not going to roll over and be cannon fodder.

“It’ll be the same in the playoffs, we’ve done great, we’ve finished third on 56 points, that’s a great achievement.

“We take it game by game, Hamilton on Tuesday, take care of that, see what the score is and then go to Hamilton on the Saturday.

“Hamilton are a really good side, they finished second in the league for good reason, they’ve got a very good squad but we’ve got a good squad as well.

“I’m confident that if we go and play to our potential that I know that we can, we’ll have a right good chance in the playoffs and that’s all you can ask for.”