DUMBARTON manager Stevie Aitken is convinced the battle for survival in the SPFL Championship will go right to the wire.

Sons defeated the league’s bottom side Alloa 3-1 on Tuesday, having lost at second-bottom Livingston on Saturday.

They now sit four points clear of Livi, who occupy the relegation play-off spot and Sons have a game in hand.

Despite the advantage Aitken is adamant the unpredictability of the league this season means Sons’ fate is long from being decided.

He said: “We know they were big games. But the season will not be defined by those games.

“I think the way this league is and the way results have been it is going to go right to the end of the season, there is no doubt about that.

“We have to make sure we are in a good place going into those last run of games. We are at the moment and we just have to make sure that stays the case.”

The Alloa tie was rescheduled from the previous week after a waterlogged pitch put paid to Sons’ chances to build on their 3-2 win over promotion-chasing Hibs last Saturday.

Aitken batted away the suggestion that the weather brought about a welcome break for his squad after a busy schedule which had seen them play three times in a week.

He said: “I don’t think so. Alloa were coming off a defeat on Saturday and we were coming off a great win so you could say that our confidence would’ve been higher going into the game. The players were ready for the game, we had no issue in terms of fitness.”

Aitken last week boosted his ranks with the addition of Ghanaian striker Sebastian Osei-Obengo. The forward had been playing for Gibraltar side Europa Point FC.

The Sons boss admitted he only made his move for Osei-Obengo when his search for a striker in the Scottish market proved fruitless.

He said: “We had to bring another striker in, Looking at the St Mirren and Morton games, we had no strikers available, we were down to the bare bones, so we had to get someone else in.

“There wasn’t a lot on the market in Scotland. we couldn’t see anything there that would fit the bill. We looked down south and spoke to an agent who has been working with us."We’re delighted to get someone else in. Hopefully for both parties it works out well.”