Lincoln City striker Matt Rhead admits they need to learn how to break defensive sides down in order to continue challenging near the top of the National League table.
Rhead thinks the Imps were unfortunate in the two games against Solihull Moors and Barrow last week, from which they only collected just one point, but agreed they couldn’t crack their opponents.
“We need to learn to break teams down but we’re third in the league so there’s nothing to panic about,” Rhead insisted.
“Teams come to us and try to sit behind the ball and frustrate us because we’ve had a good start but I think we’ve been good at getting early goals so they haven’t been able to do that too often.”
“We’ve been working on ways of breaking it down so hopefully that will be something we can conquer the next time it happens.”
Despite scoring 20 goals for the club last season, Rhead couldn’t prevent Lincoln from sliding into mid-table abyss and once again failing to reach the National League playoffs.
However, he thinks the Imps have more strength in depth this season in comparison to years gone by, which is naturally helping the side climb the table.
“All through the team we’ve got pace and quality, and even the lads on the bench and the ones not getting in the squad have got good attributes, and I think that’s the key this year,” he said.
“We’ve got players who can step in and do really well.”
“When injuries came at Christmas I think we faded last year, we had a good squad but the depth wasn’t there. This year, there’s fighting for places and that brings out the best out of the 11 that’s started.”
And Rhead, who is once again enjoying a fruitful spell in front of goal this season, said it isn’t just the strikers who need to be finding the net if the Imps are to really challenge for promotion.
“All through the team there’s goals,” he insisted. “I think that’s important for a team who wants to do well this season.”
But it’s not just scoring goals that Rhead cares about ahead of today’s match against Dover Athletic.
He acknowledged that his teammates will need to prevent Dover’s star striker Ricky Miller, a player who Lincoln have been linked with in recent weeks, from getting into his stride on Saturday.
“Ricky Miller’s a good player and we need a way of stopping him but the main thing is we go there and get a result,” he said.
“We need to be hard to beat and get back to picking up points again.”
“It’s important that we get something from the game and keep totting the points up.”