Manager Neil Wood blamed “lack of quality” for Salford City’s lacklustre 2-0 loss to Notts County last night at the Peninsula Stadium.
The Ammies manager is under pressure to find a way to turn his side’s form after an extremely disappointing start to the new season in League Two.
He said: “We were playing against a good team, a team of very good footballers so we knew it was going to be a tough game.
“The first half, they’re a footballing team and if their goalkeepers couldn’t ping it long then you’re stopping them from doing what they want to do and we were doing that in the first half.”
He added: “Obviously then they scored from our mistake, our error when we should be calm and composed and should show better quality when we have the ball in our possession.”
Wood praised the quality of the ex-Sheffield United striker David McGoldrick who scored the opening goal for the Magpies.
He said: “He’s so dangerous. In the box, you’ve got to lock onto a player like that.”
The Salford manager was less complimentary of his own side’s performance.
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He said: “We’re lacking quality, we’re lacking in shots on target, we’re lacking finishes, we’re lacking scoring goals when we’re getting a little bit of a spell in the game and we don’t capitalise.
“That’s where we’re lacking massively at the moment and we’re getting punished down the other end.”
Neil Wood mentioned getting “punished from a from a simple mistake” and that they must “eradicate that and stop that happening.”
He said: “It should be [an easy fix], but it takes concentration. It takes quality on the board to start with. It takes switching on and not not switching off and that whistle goes for a free kick.
“We saw that at Walsall at the weekend with the first goal in total control and then we give a bad free kick away, 2-3 players walking next to the ball. They take it early, cross it and it’s a goal and you go from being in control of the game to conceding which is criminal really so we need to sharpen up.”
Yesterday’s loss means Salford are still winless at home in the league this season, and languish precariously close to the relegation zone.
As boos rang out at half time and full time yesterday the pressure of the lofty expectations of Salford City will surely be weighing on the shoulders of Neil Wood.
Wood said: “Last season is the best the club has ever done and you’re hoping to build on top of that and at the moment we’re we’re way off where we were last season, we’ve probably taken a backwards step.
“The players know that, we know that we need to get back to where we were and we know how to rectify that.”
The misery was compounded for the Ammies with injuries to both Ossama Ashley and Callum Hendry, with the Salford Manager particularly concerned by the latter, spending an hour after the game consolling the striker.
He said: “It’s not looking good at this stage. We’re just trying to get in and give him some support and get around him, but it’s quite swollen at the minute, so he’s going to need a scan, but he can’t have the scan for the next couple of days until that dies down.
“Hopefully by Monday we’ll have a bit of a clearer answer for him and and see where he is with that, but we’re obviously gutted for him.
“It’s a bit more precautionary with Ossama, he wasn’t feeling great so it was a little bit worrying, but I think the important thing was to get him off the pitch and just let the doctor and the physios assess him and see how he feels for the next couple of days.”
The Salford boss will be hoping Ashley is not out for too long as a dwindling squad due to injuries and a red card for Kevin Berkoe could further stiffle any kind of revival in this early stage of the season.
The Ammies travel to Harrogate on Saturday to play 21st place Harrogate town who just survived relegation last year.
The match is a must win for Neil Wood’s men agaisnt a side they have never lost to in three games.
Kick off is at 15:00 on Saturday at the EnviroVent Stadium.
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