Nairn County manager wants a Sharp-shooter after Lossiemouth blank day
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FRUSTRATED Ronnie Sharp admits Saturday’s failure to score against the joint leakiest defence in the league highlighted “a real problem” for Nairn County.
Lossiemouth held Sharp’s visiting team to a scoreless draw despite shipping no fewer than 44 goals in their previous 14 Highland League matches this season. Only Keith have conceded as many.
Sharp, with his team still seventh in the table, described Nairn’s return of 21 goals in 13 games as a “bottom six strike-rate” and knows the struggle to hit the net could prove costly to top-six aspirations.
The Wee County manager said: “We played well possession-wise throughout the game, but we lack cutting edge. We just don’t have it at the moment. The last third is letting us down.
“Defensively, we have a record to rival the top six but our strike-rate is down there with the bottom six.
“Defensively, if you take away one heavy defeat to Inverurie Locos, we have been excellent.
“But at the moment we’re really struggling in front of goal. We’ve only scored more than two goals in a game twice this season, which tells a story. It shows we have a real problem.”
Nairn’s top scorer, despite an injury-ravaged season, is young Dylan Mackenzie on six. The 21-year-old enjoyed a 10-minute cameo at Lossiemouth, but is way short of match fitness.
Sharp said: “Dylan felt his knee was okay, so we put him on. We had to take a risk, but he’s nowhere near 100 per cent fit and has hardly played since mid-August.
“There’s still a niggle with the knee and he’ll need a good bit of training as well. Him being back would make a difference, but we need more. We can’t just rely on one player.
“You’re not going to win a lot of games or stay in the top six or seven if you can’t score goals.
“But it’s very hard. Financially, we can’t match the wages a lot of other clubs offer, so we have to work with what we’ve got and see if we can wheel and deal to pick up somebody. Maybe players will go out to get someone in. We don’t know at the moment.”
Nairn’s best chances at Lossie saw home keeper Stewart Black deny Max Ewan twice, as well as Liam Shewan and Adam Porritt.
