Gillingham have to play without fear when they host League 2 leaders Port Vale this weekend.
After a stunning start to the campaign, the Gills endured a horror show in October, taking just one league point in a run of form that has dented their confidence.
But manager Mark Bonner was encouraged by their display against higher-league Blackpool in the FA Cup defeat last weekend and wants his players to be bold going forward.
“The games are different and when we start our work on Port Vale, there’s no way we’ll mirror that (Blackpool) because the game will be different,” said Bonner.
“The bit we have to do is play fast, see it, do it, play without that fear and understand that making a mistake, giving the ball away and possession turning over is just part of it – it happens whatever.
“We’ve got to dare to lose to win more. If we play too safe like when we were 1-0 up at Swindon, we didn’t dare to lose, we tried to survive and that doesn’t help as you get bitten at the end.
“You have to take a risk, you have to be daring and I have to find the players that are willing to do it, especially now when the pressure is on a bit more and you’re not doing so well.
“The game will look very different but we have to play with a fearlessness in some respects and that’s not easy, I’m not suggesting that’s easy, it’s really hard for the lads, but that’s what we’ve got to encourage.”
The Gills tried to get Tim Dieng and Jack Nolan on the ball against Blackpool but, particularly in the first half, they declined a difficult forward pass to find their attacking players, instead opting to keep possession.
Bonner added: “It was more difficult than we needed to make it, I think it was available and those players were available.
“We have to back ourselves to play forward and play faster otherwise you get stuck in a game where you either go backwards and then you go big and you’re disconnected and open, or you’re too slow and play for too long in your own half – and we don’t want to do either of those two things.
“But the players have got to be able to do it and back themselves. As we play this system at the moment, or whatever system we play, a lot of those principles are pretty much the same. We need to get the players to a point where they can do it, where they will do it, and where they do it consistently.
“That’s the big thing. Sometimes it’s harder to do when you feel a little bit under pressure or low on confidence, but you’ve got to do it. In the second half we did it well and we had a few moments in the first half where we did it but just not enough.
“It’s almost convincing the lads and encouraging them that they can do that and when they do it well we look a good side. Then we can get to the top end of the pitch connected, under control and in better positions to sustain attacks so it’s not a counter-attack which ends up broken on us. When we get that right, we look good.”
So does that mean Bonner wants his players to be brave on the ball?
“It’s about available players, seeing it quick enough, doing it fast enough, being able to do it, backing yourself to do it and have a bit of confidence,” he replied.
“Literally, what is the consequence of giving the ball away, no one dies – that is the game.
“We talk about being fearless and we’re not fearless enough. We have to fear much less in order to be a better team and we need to see who can do that.
“There’s definitely some players not available at the moment that can do it, and there’s some players in this team that can do it and at times do it.
“But it’s the consistency of doing that and that’s the challenge for us to get them to do that.”
