Tom Killick will look to improve Poole’s attack and lack of generating chances in a bid to correct his side’s sudden slump in form. Despite conceding eight goals in their previous two games, Killick is convinced that Poole’s failure to convert possession into chances is costing his side games.
Killick told All Poole Aren’t We: “If you set up in a way and the other team create a lot of chances, then I feel you have to look really strongly at yourself as a manager, in terms of how you set the team up from that point of view.
“I look at the Taunton game, in the first 20 minutes they created about four or five chances – we were all at sea.
“But against Truro, they didn’t create a lot of chances, we were relatively solid in terms of our shape, to me, the thing that I would look at is that we didn’t create enough.
“I can’t really legislate for mistakes or softness at key moments. We had a lot of the ball, but we didn’t create enough.
“It sounds weird when we’ve conceded four goals, but I just feel mistakes are very difficult to legislate for, particularly individual mistakes at bad moments.
“As an attacking force, yes we had a lot of the ball but how many chances did we create?”
Tony Lee cut a frustrated figure over the past two games as his teammates failed to provide him with gilt-edged chances, with both of Poole’s consolation goals bundled in via set-pieces.
Over the course of the two defeats to Hayes and then Truro, a combination of clinical finishing, sloppy defending and individual errors has exaggerated Poole’s issues at the back.
Over the course of the past two months Killick has switched between three and four at the back, with differing results and performances. The main scrutiny from fans has come in regards to the midfield, with Poole trying numerous combinations.
“There’s obviously different ways of setting up in that midfield area,” continued Killick.
“We’ve tried playing two orthodox midfielders and then a 10 in Holmesy, and sometimes we’ve played three in there.
“We’ve tried different things, and in a weird way I am looking at ways we can be better offensively, which sounds strange when we’ve conceded eight goals in two games.
“I actually feel if we can get back to basics and be a bit more resilient, a bit tougher in defensive areas, at key moments, that’s not too much of a problem – we’re not conceding lots of chances.
“Hayes & Yeading, the chances were all when we were chasing the game, and against Truro it was the same. It’s more are we creating enough chances.
“A big proportion of our goals have come from Tony as we know, if Tony’s not scoring, what else is going to happen?
“It’s just a constant dilemma. Trying to find a balance is always the key. Sometimes you feel you have, it sometimes you feel you don’t. Sometimes it can be found in a formation, sometimes it ‘s the personnel.”
Killick was also keen not to overact to Poole’s sudden downturn in form, stressing that his side has pieced together a decent run of four league wins on the bounce prior to the two defeats.
“You win four on the spin, so you think it can’t be all bad, then you lost two in a row and you think you can’t be too negative, because they players and how you’ve approached the game has won you four on the spin.
“You can’t over think it, but certainly, it’s not good enough.”
All Poole Aren't We 