Graham Turner insists he has every confidence the players at his disposal are good enough to seal a timely return to winning ways for Shrewsbury Town this weekend.
Boss Turner admits he is considering bringing in reinforcements to bolster his options ahead of Saturday’s home clash against lowly Lincoln City as Town chase a first win in six games.
He said it was unlikely that Crewe Alexandra striker Calvin Zola would be heading to the Greenhous Meadow on loan, although he added the deal was not totally dead.
But Turner stressed that, if nothing is finalised for any loan players before the weekend, he is pleased with the talent he already has available.
“As a manager, you’re always looking to improve the squad, you’re always looking to freshen it up, and we’re no different,” said Turner.
“That’s what we’re looking at.
“I’ve got confidence that what we’ve got in the club is good enough but you’re always looking to improve and add to the squad.
“If we don’t get anybody in by the weekend – which might be unlikely – then I’ll be quite happy to go in with the squad we’ve got available.”
On his attempt to land Crewe’s Congolese striker Zola, who hit 18 goals for the Gresty Road club last season, Turner added: “I talked to the player and the impression I got was that he won’t go anywhere on loan. It’s not totally dead but it’s unlikely to happen.”
Town remain handily placed in fifth spot in the League Two table and Turner stressed he was looking forward to returning to the Greenhous Meadow after a testing run of away games.
“It’s interesting that results haven’t gone quite as well as we would have hoped, but four of the last five matches have been away so it puts a bit of a different complexion on things,” he said.
“The way the fixtures have worked out has been tough. We’ve had some tough games away so there’s been a lot of football, a lot of travelling and a little bit of disappointment of late.”
But Turner is hopeful the confidence of the players has not been hit.
“That’s an important factor in the way we play and we’ve got to make sure it isn’t affected,” said the manager.
“There’s good ability in the side, plenty of forward play, and yet the goals have dried up for us. It could be a matter of a little bit of a lack of confidence at times but they are good players and they’ll come through the patch we’re having. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
Turner was looking for Town’s fringe players to give him food for thought when he watched the reserves in action at Burnley on Tuesday night.
And he was keeping a close eye on Benji van den Broek during the 3-1 defeat at Turf Moor as he took the chance to play the Dutchman in a new role.
“I think his best position would be in a role slightly withdrawn from the striker, not actually up front as the main target man, but just in the free role coming forward from an advanced midfield position,” said Turner.
“It can be a luxury position but it can be very effective and I think he favours playing there.”
Turner, who revealed defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff was on course to return to training today (Thursday) after missing the last two games, is now stepping up his preparations for Saturday’s visit of Lincoln.
The Imps recently parted company with boss Chris Sutton, with Turner waiting to see if Lincoln appoint a permanent successor ahead of the weekend.
Former Southend manager Steve Tilson has emerged as the strong favourite.
“We had Lincoln watched last Saturday, they won, and they scored from two set plays,” added Turner.
“It doesn’t make it any easier if they’ve got a new manager in by Saturday, but there we are, it’s something we’re going to have to face.
“We’ve got to stay strong at home and we’ve got to win our home matches.”
Meanwhile young striker Tom Bradshaw will be unavailable for the following weekend’s trip to Chesterfield after being named in the Wales under-19 squad.
Bradshaw, 18, has been picked by Brian Flynn for a trio of UEFA qualifiers against Turkey, Iceland and Kazakhstan between October 20 and 25.
By Stuart Dunn