JIM GOODWIN insists teams in the Championship are now taking his Alloa side seriously after they beat Dundee United on Saturday.

The Wasps had gone behind to a wonderful free kick from Callum Booth, but bounced back thanks to an Andy Graham header and fine solo effort from Dario Zanatta at the death.

The crucial three points in the relegation dogfight leaves Alloa eighth in the table and four points clear of Partick Thistle.

Having gone into the season as the bookies' and pundits' favourites to end the year rock bottom, Goodwin believes they have proven a lot of people wrong with their consistent performances.

He said: "Everybody expected us to be rock bottom of the Championship and I think the only people who believed we were better than that is ourselves.

"Everybody wrote us off before a ball had been kicked this season and I don't think anybody is writing us off now.

"People are starting to give us the respect we deserve. I've got a group of players in there who a number of the full time teams would be delighted to have.

"That's full credit to the boys and it's also pleasing that we are where we are playing football in the right manner."

Saturday's win made it four games without defeat for Alloa who have hit a purple patch at an ideal time in the season.

And Goodwin was full of praise for his side's performance against one of the promotion favourites.

He said: "I am over the moon with the end result and thought we battled really well on Saturday.

"Dundee United are a really good side and I thought they dominated possession, but we defended really well.

"Although we were a lot deeper than we'd have liked to have been, I thought we restricted them to long shots and having to put crosses into the box.

"It was disappointing to go a goal down, but it is just unbelievable character that the boys have shown.

"I've lost count of the amount of times they have shown such great heart and determination to come back and rescue a point or secure all three.

"Every single one of them put in a hell of a shift and got their reward."

The game was won by a stunning solo effort from Zanatta as he scored for the third game running.

Goodwin added: "Dario does fantastic and has come into a really rich vein of form in the last five games.

"It's more than his goals in terms of what he offers to the team and he is always a threat.

"I am delighted as his parents and girlfriend were over watching from Canada and that makes it just that little bit more special for him."