Notts County Manager Ricardo Moniz admits that his side need to be more ruthless in the final third of the pitch if they are to turn their recent run of draws into wins.
Moniz was talking at the media launch for the new Notts County Pathway Academy, which is being setup in association with Rolls-Royce Leisure and he was impressed with the facilities at their Hucknall headquarters.
However, it is out on the pitch that he wants to see his players continue their recent improvement in performances, as they look to build on a run of five consecutive draws and start to claim all three points from games.
Reflecting on his two games in charge at Notts, which have both ended in 1-1 draws, Moniz said: “There are two things, first of all we still didn’t succeed, black and white, we didn’t win two games, we saved a point, big respect to the players.
“On the other hand I didn’t do anything. I tried to inspire them to fulfil their unique specific qualities. Now, 50 percent we used, in ball possession, but to score a goal, as you saw, last game we had more shots than them, but we were not efficient,” he added.
“So you must be idealistic but you must also be realistic. When there is no efficiency out of quality you have nothing. We must pick up very quick because we only have four games.
“Sometimes when you want to make the game quick you must run less and take the right position because the ball is quick. They did, but the final third efficiency was not there,” he continued.
“We had a few distant shots and when you compare this with the shots from our opponents, these were top class and we also want to be top class, so we have to train the qualities, we have to develop the qualities.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s crucial Sky Bet League 1 game away to fellow relegation battlers Crawley Town, Moniz said that he expects another tough test, but that he was confident going into the game.
“About Yeovil, for example, I heard stories that they had nothing, they have no energy, they play for nothing, and I was very impressed by them and so it will be with Crawley also,” he explained.
“It’s a six-point game, so we have to win and we have two home games in our own advantage and we can have everything in our own hands. For us, it’s about dead or alive, so we must stay calm, not be hectic and be confident and it’s a third chance for me to get the three points and I’m very confident.”
Subscribers can watch the full pre-match interview with Ricardo Moniz on Magpie Player.