Sheffield Wednesday players urged to ‘throw caution to the wind’ in search of goals
Split-second decisions and a drag in confidence in preventing Sheffield Wednesday from regaining their touch in front of goal.
That’s the view of Owls boss Darren Moore, who watched over as his side failed to beat Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Friday.
Alongside a visual satisfaction with their chance creation, Moore touched on his side’s xG output as a sign of progression in draws against Cheltenham Town (3.09 v 2.42) and Lincoln City (1.93 v 0.9).
That data was not available by the time the Wednesday manager arrived for his post-match duties at Oxford.
And while there was a frustration in an inability to score more with what they had in the draw, Moore said they had created enough to win the game.
Last week club captain Barry Bannan expressed frustration at a lack of quality in vital moments.
“We are creating but it's the final contact,” Moore said. “You look at Dennis’ header, then Palms gets in at the far post, Lee Gregory has an effort.
“But the contact has to be there, I do feel that we’re getting into the right positions, but that clean contact isn’t following and that’s it really. That’s the disappointing thing. We have to be more ruthless in those positions and be more aggressive in those situations.
“When I look back at those three chances, then Marvin’s flashing balls across the box, Baz has got a couple across. We have to get runners across the front of defenders. All those things you look at in retrospect is where we have to be better and in the position we’re in, we have to throw more caution to the wind in terms of getting bodies in there.
“When the bodies are in the box, we’ve got to get that contact on the ball. Those are the areas that we look at.”
Asked whether a dip in confidence is preventing Wednesday from achieving their potential in front of goal, Moore said: “These are split-second decisions.
“Indecision and confidence in terms of snatching at chances. They’re good chances but again we’re not getting the right contact.”