Goals are not far off for Shrewsbury Town – Sam Ricketts
Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts stresses that the stats suggest his side’s goals are on the way.
Town have struggled to hit the net this season, managing just 10 goals from their first 12 games in League One, the second-fewest behind Bolton.
They will look to add to that tally at Montgomery Waters Meadow tonight against Gillingham, who are three places and three points below Shrews in 16th and winless on the road.
Ricketts, whose side also boast the joint-third tightest defence in the division having shipped just 13 goals, has promised he is not concerned by a lack of goals and believes other numbers prove they are on the right track. He said: “It’s not worrying me at all. It’s not through a lack of shots or anything like that.
“Total shots in the league we are right in the middle, it’s not as if we’re not shooting. Can we hit the target a bit more? Yes. We can be a little more clinical in the final third whether it’s the cross or pass.
“When we’ve done that in games, more than anywhere in the Southend home game, where we made the final pass and shot count, we went on and scored four goals.
“We’re not a million miles away, we’re having plenty of opportunities. At Lincoln they had six shots one on target and we had 12 and five on target. We are hitting the target, we have to be a little bit more clinical.”
Ricketts’ side have drawn a quarter of their league games 0-0 this term and failed to net in seven of the 12 games.
The boss added: “We get in really good situations.
“We had 20 shots at Tranmere, a really good total, 12 at Lincoln which is good.
“It’s just the final piece. We have done at times but not at others.
“You have to respect Gillingham as well. They’ve played a lot of shapes, a diamond, three at the back, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. We’ll have to wait and see.
“But you can’t just open yourself up and be easy to play against. We need to be hard to play against and add that cutting edge at the top end. We’ve always had chances but maybe not been able to hit the target or test the keeper enough.
“I’d quite happily take the four goals again, I’d take 4-3 again, the Southend game was a rarity for us. We were loose and punished.”
