Head coach Stephen Clemence accepts his Gillingham team won’t fulfil their play-off target while their scoring problems persist.
Clemence has got the Gills creating chances, but putting the ball into the net continues to be problematic. Missed opportunities cost them at the weekend as they drew 1-1 at home to lowly Grimsby.
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The Gills are hanging onto hopes of a top-seven finish and head to Morecambe this Saturday to face a side who are chasing the same aim.
Clemence said: “Hopefully we can start taking chances between now and the end of the season but you only have to look at the last two home games, Tranmere and [on Saturday against Grimsby].
“We have taken two points and we should have all six.
“I don’t fear anyone, I am not bothered who we play. I think the group of lads that we have got will take anyone on, but when we get our chances we need to make sure we put them in the net.
“If we are going to be successful this year then that is what we will have to do between now and the end of the season.
“If we don’t put the ball in the back of the net I think we will always be in the games, but we won’t finish where we want to finish for that reason.
“We will keep doing our best with the boys to get better and to improve and to try and give them confidence and let’s see what happens between now and the end of the season.”
Goalscoring problems have pre-dated Clemence’s appointment and injuries to newly-signed forwards Josh Andrews and Jorge Hurtado haven’t helped. The Gills have scored five goals in their last eight matches but no strikers have registered in that time.
Clemence said: “We have harped on about it all season and said if we don’t take more [of the chances] we could be a nearly team and we might not achieve what we want to do, but we are still in the mix.
“We have to keep going, the boys have to keep believing, I will keep believing in them and I tell them when they haven’t performed to the levels that I expect but they performed to the levels I expected, so I won’t criticise them for not beating Grimsby.
“We have got to win some football matches between now and the end of the season and if the boys perform like that then we’ll be okay.
“I am hugely frustrated and I know we should have more points on the board but I know we are doing the right things on the training ground, I know we are creating more which is what I promised my owners when I came into the football club.
“I had an understanding of what I am here to do, I didn’t promise that I would make us play like Manchester City or Liverpool, but I did believe I could get us to create more chances and I think I have stuck to my word on that.
“But when the chances come you can’t put the ball in the back of the net for people, you have to make the keeper work at least, we haven’t been good enough at that.
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“Creating [chances] is the difficult thing to do, the next bit is putting the ball in the back of the net but we have been unfortunately below par.
“We go to Morecambe and try and beat them, that will be the aim. If we perform like we have in the last couple of home games we will be fine and we also have to keep 11 men on the pitch.
“The boys stand up to most things that come their way, but we have got to sort out our Achilles heel which is going the other way and, let me reiterate, that’s not just the players at the top end of the pitch.
“Chances are falling to different people and we haven’t taken enough of the chances.”
