Neil Young says his biggest problem at the moment is rectifying their ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ performances.
Following their hard-fought 1-0 win over Worksop Town on Saturday, they followed it up with a leaky 4-4 draw with Workington.
The point took them to within five points of the top five with four games in hand over their rivals.
With negative habits creeping into their game, the Mariners boss is keen to get to the bottom of them.
“You’re always looking for a response but I don’t look for a response in football matches, I look at attitudes and what we’re trying to do,” said Young speaking to Off The Park.
“I’m a big believer in trends, the thing I can’t put my finger on at the minute is we go from nine or 10 clean sheets to conceding fours, four at Guiseley and tonight (Workington), two at Macc and Hyde, St Ives two but if you look at the games, look at the goals we conceded and the chances missed.
“We’re short of numbers, the Saturday and Tuesday and it’s great being in the FA Cup and Trophy but ultimately, you pay for it when you’re carrying small numbers.
“We pulled out a performance on Saturday and you wouldn’t have recognised the same (team), we only made one change, it’s the same lads bar one.”
The Marine manager isn’t focused on the playoffs at this stage as he looks to fix the current issues emerging from their performances.
Should their fixture avoid the cold snap, they’re set to host Ilkeston Town, another playoff rival, on Saturday. Harvey Gregson is in line to be in the squad for the first time since leaving strugglers Atherton Collieries but Young insists he is trying to add further numbers.
“I don’t look at playoffs or games in hand, I just look at the next game. More importantly, it’s about getting to the bottom of Jekyll and Hyde, I do believe a lot of it is down to when having a small squad you only need three or four, four to five not fully at it and you’ve got problems,” he continued.
“We’re trying as we have been doing for a number of weeks. What we mustn’t forget is, we’ve got Louis Earl (double arm-break), Charley Doyle (broken leg), Fin Sinclair-Smith (knee), Jordan Lussey (ankle) and Jack Dunn (ACL) put them five in any team in the league and they probably start.
“But we can’t make excuses, we’ve been to Worksop and won, all the good things we did on Saturday, we didn’t do against Workington. It’s that Jekyll and Hyde element and I do believe a lot it’s down to putting two games too close together with a lot of intensity, I think we’re struggling with that.”
[Featured Image: Susan Nugent]
