WE LACK KILLER INSTINCT – DUFF
MICHAEL Duff saw his Cheltenham side storm to victory at home to basement club Notts County – and then accused his players of lacking the killer instinct.
Duff praised striker Billy Waters after he scored his second goal in as many games, saying he looked sharp after being asked to boost his fitness with the club’s youngsters.
“It is a reaction to playing proper football,” the Cheltenham boss said. “Reserve or U23 games don’t have the same intensity. If someone is 3-0 down in an U23 game they are not fighting like they [Notts] were because they’re scrapping for their lives.”
He added: “I felt that at 3-0 you can really go and kill them off and we didn’t know whether to stick or twist, which is understandable because it’s natural to protect what you have. But then you end up inviting them on.
“But if you are going to improve to the next level – and I think we’re in that middle group now rather than the bottom group – then you need that killer instinct.”
Cheltenham’s opener came after 29 minutes when good work on the right from Ben Tozer and Kevin Dawson resulted in Charlie Raglan crossing for Will Boyle to head home.
The visitors were still recovering from that when the Robins doubled their lead after 36 minutes. Waters broke into the area only to be bundled over by Craig Mackail-Smith and Luke Varney drilled the resulting penalty low to keeper Ryan Schofield’s right. Waters added his name to the scoresheet 10 minutes after the break, producing a calm finish after being put in the clear by Dawson, and then went close with a curling effort that flew just too high.
Notts’ consolation came after 69 minutes, Hemmings scoring from the spot after Mackail-Smith had been fouled by Boyle.
But Cheltenham had the final say when substitute Tyrone Barnett thumped home after 88 minutes following a goalmouth scramble.
Disappointed Notts County boss Neal Ardley admitted his players had not been good enough against their relegation rivals.
“I’m really, really angry,” he said. “I stick up for the boys and I always try not to hang them out to dry – it’s not my style. But that wasn’t good enough.
“We prepped them and we knew what was coming. We worked hard during the week but didn’t compete well enough and I’m as angry as the group of people who were booing at the
end. “I’ve said to them [the players] that we have 11 games to go and we have to go and play like we are fighting for our lives – but we didn’t.”