Salford head coach Karl Robinson has expressed the urgency for improvement in front of goal following a tough defeat to Carlisle.
Despite a strong start and several missed opportunities, the Ammies lost 1-0, underlining a need for attacking reinforcements.
The defeat was the first in six for Salford, but saw the Ammies losing to Carlisle who currently sit 23rd in the league.
Following the fixture Robinson said: “We need to score more goals. Even when we were winning, we were still hanging on at 2-1 or 1-0 at stages.
“We’ve got to look at recruitment in January, we’ve got to find players in the final third that score goals.”
Despite sitting comfortably at 13th in League Two, only three teams have scored fewer goals than the Ammies.
Robinson acknowledged the strength of their opponents: “You’ve got to respect that they’re one of the most resourced teams in the league.”
Our unbeaten run comes to an end.
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“I think as a whole, I don’t think we were bad today.
“Carlisle are certainly in a false position, we knew that coming into the game, we knew it would be a difficult one.”
Salford controlled the match in the first half, setting the tempo with high energy levels.
Robinson said: “I didn’t expect us to go and play as good and convincingly as we did in the first half.
“The frustrating thing for me is when you go in 0-0, you come out second half and miss one or two chances, you’re a little bit suspect, and to be honest, it worried us all as the game went on.”
A set-piece goal ultimately broke the deadlock, Robinson said: “To concede a goal in the way we did from a set play, I’ll keep that to myself.”
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Robinson said: “I’m pleased with the performance for probably about 80% of it, but it’s so frustrating.
“Everything’s so close in this league, you win with class and you lose with class always; you look at yourself first, you don’t point fingers.”
In spite of the defeat, Robinson is confident in his squad’s potential.
He continued: “We still feel we have players here good enough to get us out this league, I have no qualms over that, but we have to stand up and be counted.”
Missing several key players, Robinson felt the impact on the squad’s attack, as he said: “All of our front players today, we need more from them.
“We missed Kelly and Woody today who, over recent weeks, have been our spark.
“People are forgetting we came into this game without Ryan Watson, Shep’s [Liam Shephard] still not 100% fit, Adelukan, Woodburn and N’Mai. I mean that’s crazy, we need to make sure we get them fit.”
Twenty-year-old Kelly N’Mai’s absence in particular proved a loss given the midfielder’s impressive form earned him a nomination for League 2 player of the month for October.
The Dutchman is also the club’s highest goal scorer in the league, with just three goals across the opening 15 games this campaign.
Looking ahead, Karl Robinson reinforced his team’s resilience, as he said: “We want to be hated all season and we’re going to fight for every single point.
“I’m proud of them tonight, and I’ll pat them on the back, they know that.”
Salford head to promotion-hopefuls Doncaster in their next league game, with a win there seeing them move in the right direction towards the playoff places.
But with a need for goals, the Ammies will be looking to turn their fortune and hopefully gain some confidence in front of the opposition net.
Image credit Salford City FC YouTube
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