Curle addresses Cobblers' goal troubles and identifies areas for improvement

Getting more men forward, playing more on the front foot and delivering better service into the frontmen are all areas that Keith Curle and his players will seek to improve to solve their goal troubles.

It's not so much wasteful finishing that has hurt the Cobblers this season but more a lack of creativity and quality in the final third. They have managed just nine shots on target across their four league matches in 2021 and remain the lowest scorers in the whole of League One with 20 goals in 24 matches.

Curle accepts it's become a big problem for his team and one that must be resolved if they are to give themselves a realistic chance of avoiding relegation. It was the main topic of debate at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's game at in-form Accrington Stanley.

"Obviously we need to be better in the final third," Curle admitted. "We need to get ourselves more on the front foot and play more in the opposition's half.

"But it's not just about the strikers, it's also other people getting into the final third and creating opportunities for the striker. Can we be more clinical and better with our movement and our finishing? Yes, definitely. But we have to give the strikers and our forward-thinking players better ammunition and that's all of our responsibility.

"It's a numbers game. If you only have one man in the box and one cross coming in, it has to be pinpoint. We are trying to get more numbers into the areas we want but we still need quality balls in and a good understanding of where we want that ball delivered.

"We need to ask the opposition questions in their own half and that means we need to get the ball forward, retain possession and get the right numbers supporting the ball. Get the ball into wide areas and put it into the box with quality.

"It doesn't matter if you're playing against an Accrington Stanley or a Sunderland or a team in the bottom half of the division, they will still have to deal with it."

Town's squad underwent some big changes last month with four players joining on loan and several others departing, but Curle does not believe they require too much time to form new partnerships.

"I don't think it's about waiting for new players to gel," he added. "It's about them coming in and showcasing what they're about.

"Yes, it can take a short period of time to get that understanding but it doesn't matter what team you're playing for and what division you're in, if you put the ball into the right areas, we will get people on the end of it.

"If you blast it over the crossbar, it doesn't matter how good somebody is - they're not going to retrieve it from the back of the stand! So it's identifying the areas we want to work in and getting players into those areas and into the box and making the right runs at the right time."

It was noticeable at Blackpool on Tuesday that Town did try to push more men forward with both wing-backs getting into advanced areas and Ryan Watson and Bryn Morris joining attacks alongside the front two of Ryan Edmondson and Sam Hoskins.

But the final pass or cross was often wayward and invariably meant promising situations fizzled out, making for a relatively quiet evening for Blackpool goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, bar one meaningful early save from Watson.

"I thought we started the game OK but the first goal was disappointing because it gives them confidence and a leg-up," said Curle. "But there was nothing in the game in the first-half.

"In the second-half, we were comfortably in the game. We had one skirmish when they broke away and hit the post but that came from a poor decision by ourselves when we were in their half.

"We got into decent areas to create opportunities but the final ball wasn't right."