Yoker Athletic manager Gordon Robertson has revealed that his Christmas wish is for his side to find the net more consistently.
The Holm Park outfit have struggled to score goals this season, scoring 20 across their 15 fixtures so far, with only the three teams in the relegation spots at the foot of the division scoring less goals.
Despite that, the Whe Ho can boast one of the best defensive records with only second placed Cumbernauld United conceding fewer as the season reaches the half-way stage.
Robbo has guided his side to five games without defeat in their recent outings, which included a win over Threave Rovers that booked their spot in the second round of the West of Scotland Cup to set up a tie with Premier Division champions Beith.
Just a couple of wins in a row could take any side from a tightly-packed Second Division to the outskirts of the promotion spaces, and the Yoker boss insists that can be his troops if they find that clinical touch.
Speaking to the Post, he said: “We’ve been playing relatively well recently but I think we could do better.
“The problem we’ve got and that we need to rectify is, as a group, we don’t score enough goals.
“Our defensive record is one of the best in the league but goalscoring is one of the worst.
“We’re sitting eighth but we’ve got to be looking up the way and the way to do that is maintain our levels of performance and our good defensive record but start scoring more goals.
“I don’t want to be too pessimistic because I am pleased with the levels of performance and it’s nice we’ve had a couple of good results and performances, but I just feel we’ve been far too inconsistent at the top end of the pitch.
“I do think we have done well in a lot of games and not got our rewards. You hope that evens itself out if we keep doing what we’re doing and then you get the rewards and hit your stride in front of goal.
“I feel if we can address our goalscoring in the second-half of the season then it can be really positive for us.
“The league is wide open, if we can keep going and show the determination we have and get a wee break here and there then who knows what can happen. We’re excited about the second-half of the season.”
Yoker will be hoping to return to action this weekend after the freezing conditions on Saturday resulted in every Saturday afternoon fixture across the West of Scotland Football League being called off.
Robertson takes his side to Kingshill Park to take on Forth Wanderers and, despite the hosts sitting towards the bottom of the division, he has pointed at their victory over runaway league leaders Ardrossan Winton Rovers as to how difficult of a place it is to go.
He explained: “Because of our inconsistent start to the season then a lot of games like this one become six-pointers; if you win you keep them at arms-length but if you lose then they are overtaking you or level with you.
“It’s a tough place to go and the conditions can be horrible, the wind blows down the park and it makes for an ugly game.
“We have to deal with a tough opponent at a tough venue in tough conditions – they beat Ardrossan Winton Rovers there which tells you all you need to know.”
Kick-off on Saturday is at 1.30pm.
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