New Lincoln City manager Steve Tilson takes charge of the club for the first time on Saturday, as the Imps prepare to host Stockport County.
Just three places separate the two sides in League Two, with both experiencing similarly disappointing starts to the season.
Having only scored seven times in 12 league games this season, Tilson is keen to instil belief into the likes of Mustapha Carayol and Albert Jarrett, who have only netted once each.
Tilson said: “A wide player should be looking to score between five and ten goals per year from getting in the box when the cross is coming in from the other side. We’ll encourage that, and if they don’t do it, that’s when we might have a quiet chat with them.
“Today, we’ve done a bit of shape [training] and I think Mustapha Carayol has had three headers in the box,” he added. “I haven’t seen him have one header in the box in the three games I’ve seen him, so it’s just encouraging things like that.”
Tilson has also had the squad taking part in team-bonding exercises such as boxercise classes — a non-contact form of boxing which incorporates many of the moves and techniques of the sport. This is in a bid to boost morale and perhaps more importantly within this current Lincoln squad, improve communication.
The manager continued: “They’re a fantastic bunch of lads. They work hard and have decent quality, but for the first couple of days it was very, very quiet, but that’s just the nature of a lot of the players that are in the team, so we’ve got to try and get them to talk a bit more.”
He will also be looking to bring in two or three new faces in the near future, with the possibility of at least one new signing before the Stockport game. However, he admitted the club’s current position in the league, and its well-publicised lack of money, are acting as a slight hindrance when it comes to attracting players.
“You’re trying to get players to come to a side that are in League Two and fourth from bottom, so that’s difficult in itself. To get the players that I want to try and bring into the football club to improve the side; their wages are probably a little bit out of reach at the moment, but we’re hoping that clubs will be able to do a deal for us.”
Tilson picked out Stockport’s on-loan striker pairing Wes Fletcher and George Donnelly as potential threats, and is not taking Saturday’s opponents lightly.
“It’ll be a tough game. There are no easy games in any league, but it’ll be a game hopefully with a decent crowd and we can get a good start, and get the momentum going forward.”
Lincoln will be without defender Kern Miller, who strained his hamstring whilst playing for the Reserves on Tuesday, but otherwise Tilson has no new injury worries ahead of the Stockport game, as he looks to begin his reign with a win.