Neil Wood not panicking as Salford’s goal drought continues

Posted Sunday, November 13, 2022 by PA

Neil Wood will not be pressing the panic button after his misfiring Salford side’s 0-0 League Two draw at home to Wimbledon.

It was the Ammies’ fourth game in a row without scoring but, somewhat satisfied with a point, Wood insists they are playing better than the results indicate.

“We always want to win the game so we’re disappointed we didn’t do that,” said the Salford boss.

“I thought we played some periods of the game very well. We had a lot of good play but we need to take our chances when the momentum’s going with us.

“We didn’t do that and it always leaves the opposition in the game and obviously they will get a period of the game, that’s always going to happen.

“But I thought we finished the game really strongly and had some good chances towards the end. For us, it’s a small step in the right direction for our home form and another point on the board.

“The lack of goals is always a worry but I’d be even more worried if we weren’t creating or weren’t getting into good positions. We just can’t find a way to put it in the goal.

“Today we played some excellent stuff, the first two-thirds of our play is really high-level and we get into the final third and at times we put the right cross in and we don’t have the bodies in there, or we’re poor on the cross.

“We’ve just got to keep working, we could easily win games by two or three if we take our chances and we’re not quite doing that.”

The game provided little goalmouth entertainment with few chances created by either side but Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson was also happy to take a share of the spoils.

And Jackson felt, if anyone deserved to snatch the win, it was his side.

“I think we probably had the more clear-cut chances in the game, and there weren’t many, to be honest,” he admitted.

“They had a good chance at the start and a good chance at the end but beyond that I don’t think our goalkeeper’s had too much to do, I don’t think either had too much to do.

“I thought we carved out a few decent openings, especially in the first half and we might have gone in ahead. But it was a pretty even game, though I think we shaded it on the chances created and the nature of the chances created but it’s a good, solid point.

“I was really pleased with the performance overall, we looked solid and defended really well, we had a good shape about us, we were difficult to break down and we had a threat on the counter-attack. It was a good, solid team performance. That’s back-to-back clean sheets so we’re happy with that too.

“This really is a difficult place to come and it’s a point – we wanted more but it’s a good, solid point. It’s seven games without defeat in all competitions and we feel we’re building momentum. We’ve definitely become harder to beat and it’s paying off at the minute.”