Steven Schumacher is backing his team to deliver the goals they need as they resume their League One play-off push on Saturday, writes Pete Oliver.
Schumacher confirmed ahead of the weekend trip to Shrewsbury Town that on-loan striker Kion Etete is facing around a month out of action with a thigh injury.
But 15-goal top-scorer Aaron Collins should be fit enough to start after a substitute appearance at Wrexham in mid-week as Wanderers - whose goal tally of 47 is only bettered by the top two in the division - look to deliver a first away win under the new head coach after successive 1-0 defeats on the road.
“Our goalkeepers haven’t been getting peppered in either of the away games against Reading and Wrexham. It’s not as though we're hanging in on games,” said Schumacher. “A lot of the defensive work and a lot of the things that we spoke about to that unit in particular when we first came in, we're seeing. There are loads of positive signs that we're doing okay.
“Now we just need to find a way to win those tight games and score when we're on top. In both of those fixtures, we should have got the first goal, which changes everything, as you know, in this division.
“We've got players in this team that have got goals. John McAtee has scored goals this season, Joel Randall’s got goals and Aaron Morley's got goals in him. Aaron Collins is obviously our leading goalscorer now and on Saturday against Crawley, there was different goalscorers and Jordy chipped in with one.
“So, we're not concerned there's a lack of goals in the team. There's certainly evidence that we're creating chances. As long as we do that, we've got to believe that we'll stick them away. We've got full faith in the players that they've got the quality to do that and hopefully that starts on Saturday.”
As well as Etete, George Thomason will be missing for the visit to Shrewsbury through suspension, while defender Ricardo Almeida Santos is not yet ready to return and Chris Forino’s first minutes back are expected to be in the B Team next Tuesday.
But Morley, Randall, Alex Murphy and Szabi Schön are available after being ineligible for the Vertu Trophy exit at Wrexham as Wanderers look to try and force their way into the top six.
Schumacher’s men are currently two points outside the League One play-off places but won’t have it easy against a Shrewsbury side in the bottom four but re-vitalised under Gareth Ainsworth which has taken 10 points from the last possible 18 and beaten high-flying Birmingham and Wrexham under the former Wycombe boss.
“Gaz has got them playing in a way that you would expect a Gareth Ainsworth team to play. They look as though they've got a clear identity of what they're trying to do and we need to be ready for that,” Schumacher added.
“It'll be a game where we’ll be tested physically. We'll be tested mentally as well, about maybe not getting frustrated. That'll be the key to our lads; not to get frustrated if the game isn't free-flowing and going exactly how we want it to go.
“We have to just stay focused and stay calm in those moments and do enough, hopefully, to get a result that we want. We're in the mix. There’s always somebody who gets on a really good run and builds a bit of momentum and we want that to be us.
“We played really well last Saturday and we played well on Tuesday. We didn't get the result that we felt we probably deserved but the players are doing great. I've said that to them this morning. We've lost two games against Reading and Wrexham that I felt that we didn't deserve to lose, so not to be despondent about it.
“Stay positive. Stick together as a team and we'll be fine because if we play with the level of performance that we have, then the results will come. And if we put the effort in that the fans are appreciating, then the results will be there.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview on Wanderers TV