Danny Cowley has admitted that Portsmouth need to score more goals if the team wants to earn promotion this season.
The Pompey boss explained his frustration that the team hasn’t been able to find the back of the net, but thinks it’s something they can fix.
Despite having one of the best defences in League One, the attack has been much less reliable. This was evident midweek as Cowley’s side spurned plenty of chances in a 0-0 draw with Wimbledon.
“Our expected goals on Tuesday night was over two, but we’re just not finding that ruthlessness we need,” said Cowley, via the club’s official website.
“That’s what we need to keep working towards because we’ve kept 13 clean sheets, which is the most in the league.
“We had good control and dominance at AFC Wimbledon, but if we want to achieve what we’re aiming for, then you need to find a way of winning.
“When you look at the number of crosses we get into the box and the number of touches, then we should be scoring more goals."
Tuesday night’s result was the team’s eighth draw of the campaign and left them five points adrift of the play-off places.
Portsmouth’s defence is the third best in the division. However, only four sides have a worse record in front of goal in the entire league.
Their recent form has seen Pompey only win one of their last four league games, a 2-0 victory over Morecambe on December 11.
Up next for Cowley’s side is a trip to the Stadium of Light for a meeting with Sunderland on January 22. The Black Cats have the best attack of anyone in League One and are in third place in the table, so this will be a test of Portsmouth’s stern backline.
The Verdict
Portsmouth really do need to find the back of the net more often. To have only scored 29 goals and still be ninth in the table goes to show how impressive their defensive record is.
To create so many chances against Wimbledon and still not score is incredibly frustrating and it’s hard to really know what they can do to change that.
If they were scoring few goals from few chances then it would be almost better because then the coaching staff could more easily pinpoint the problem and could work on that.
However, when a team is scoring few from many chances then their best bet is to keep doing the same things and hoping they just start converting with more consistency.