Wally Downes believes that the current squad will start putting points on the board soon and he is happy with his current attacking options.
Speaking ahead of the League One match at Sunderland on Saturday, Wally said: “We have been in every game so far and we should have more points than we currently have, but it’s my job to keep the belief going amongst the players and to make sure we are fully focused on accumulating points. Playing well isn’t enough. We need to turn playing well and being solid into points. Unless we are putting points on the board, we realise that we have a problem. The problem isn’t on the footballing side of it and it’s about accumulating points.”
In the build-up to the trip to the Stadium of Light, Wally was asked if he expects any transfer movement before the deadline.
“You never know in football," said Wally. "If there is going to be any movement our end and if anyone comes in for our players we have to be ready. I remember saying at the Meet the Manager event that I was getting a number 9 in, but that may have been taken a bit too literally. What I meant was that I was getting Michael Folivi in and he was in the building. We have four strikers at the moment. There is still a bit of time left and a lot can happen in football, so watch this space.”
Our manager added that another demonstration of the fantastic support that was provided by our fans at the Stadium of Light last season can really help the boys in Saturday’s return to Sunderland.
“It was tremendous support that we had last season at Sunderland and it looked like our fans really enjoyed it after having problems getting in. They were loud and vociferous. We knew where they were and they really helped with the performance. To go all that way and give them a point or three points, that would be a great experience for our players and certainly the fans going up there. We look forward to seeing the fans up there and we hope we can put in a performance for them.
“I was largely pleased with the performance and the effort we put in (on Tuesday at Ipswich), certainly in the first-half. I thought we had weathered the storm when they put their subs on, but it was unfortunate that we conceded from a set play for the first goal and then technical problems caused their second goal. I was generally pleased with the performance and hopefully we can take that into Saturday.”
The picture above (taken by Nigel Keene, Pro Sports Images) shows Nesta Guinness-Walker scoring at Ipswich on Tuesday night.
Take a look below at Rob Cornell's full interview with Wally ahead of Saturday’s game.