Gillingham have been practising their finishing in front of the empty Town End this week in a bid to end a troubling home statistic.
The Gills have found scoring goals troublesome all season but their first-half scoring record at Priestfield is alarming. The last time they managed it was on November 18 in a 3-1 victory over Salford City.
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That’s 10 home league games in a row – four months – where they’ve gone in at the break without registering a goal.
Gillingham traditionally attack their home end in the second half which means starting games going towards the usually empty Town End.
Last time out at home the Gills were poor against Tranmere Rovers in the opening half before rallying after the break. The shot count went from five in the first half to 21 in the second as Clemence’s men battled back from a goal down to draw the match.
The Gills have four home games left this season as they chase a play-off spot and putting teams under pressure early will help take some of the pressure off.
“We have got to improve in first halves,” acknowledged the head coach.
“I keep challenging the boys to do that and whether there is something about going towards an empty stand, I don’t know.
“We trained on the ground earlier in the week and did some attacking patterns towards that end, because we thought ‘does that help them?’”
Clemence – who hopes to have his team back training today (Friday) following a sickness bug in the camp – will have them training on the Priestfield pitch again ahead of Grimsby’s weekend visit.
The coach said: “We are trying different things to get us going from the start of games.
“There is no doubt in the second half of games for a long time we have been a real threat going forward here (at Priestfield) but we need to bring that for a full game, and that is the challenge to the players.”
The Gills are unbeaten in seven at home – albeit with five draws – and Clemence knows now is the time for wins.
He said: “That is what we need to do, we need to get back to winning ways, of course you need to win games at this stage of the season although we drew against Tranmere (last weekend) and moved up two spots!
“We go into every game trying to win them, I never set out for a draw, but when we get those chances we have to make sure we take them. I am sure we’ll get chances at the weekend and we have to make sure we put the ball in the back of the net.
“We had enough chances in that second half against Tranmere to win three matches and again that’s our Achilles heel, we don’t put the ball in the back of the net enough.”
Gillingham are the league’s lowest scorers and they’ve managed just four in the last seven – another statistic that doesn’t bode well for a team chasing a top-seven spot. No strikers have found the net in that time.
Clemence knows it’s an issue.
“Of course, it is a concern,” he said. “Goals have to come from everywhere, but ideally you want your front players if you are going to be successful in any league you need one of them to be getting over 15 goals in a season, probably 20 and we are well short.
“The numbers have to improve in midfield and at the top end of the pitch and I am well aware of the problems.
“I will try and sort that as we go forward as a football club but at the minute we have to try and get results between now and the end of the season, to get to where we want to be and I do believe we can do it, we have to keep going.
“It is up to us to take the game to them, we have to get off to a good start which we haven’t done enough of and can we go and get all three points? We have the players to do it and once they get over that white line they have to go and perform.”
