Cook sees need for more firepower

Sligo Rovers manager Paul Cook says that his side need to score more goals and finish matches off if they are to push up the Premier Division table.

Speaking to extratime.ie after the Bit O’Red were held to a 1-1 draw at Morton Stadium despite largely dominating the match, Cook says that failing to kill matches off has been a persistent problem in the Sligo season thus far.

“It’s been like that a lot for us this year,” says Cook, “we should have more points than we have. It’s something we’re trying our best to address, but it’s not easy. Fingal have some great players in the team- you just can’t go to places like that and lie down, It’s disappointing that we didn’t win but on reflection we had a couple of chances near the end which I felt we deserved something from.”

Despite losing just twice in the last three months, Rovers still lie in the lower half of the Premier Division table. Cook acknowledges that “it is frustrating and disappointing” for his side to be mired towards the bottom of the table but says that Sligo “changes the team a lot with injuries like every other team does. What we have to be careful of is trying our best to get further up the league as quickly as we can, but it’s not that easy.”

Cook outlined how pleased he is with the form of Padraig Amond, but was cautionary about overplaying the young striker. “He’s a young lad, he’s playing more football now than he has in a while, so you have to look after him a little bit. He’s played a lot of football lately and he’s played up front on his own a lot. That’s the hard part for us, we want him on the pitch and we want him scoring, but at the same time we’re trying to look after the lad.”

Asked about whether partnering Amond with new signing Lee McEvily might yield more goals, Cook said that he would consider pairing Amond and McEvily but stated that another key area for Sligo to improve on is discipline:

“We’re not really doing a whole lot wrong” says the Liverpudlian, “in that respect we need to keep eleven men on the pitch and we won’t often get beaten. We’re not winning enough games, and at times there’s not a lot wrong with us. We do need more firepower up front, but I don’t think we’re far away.”

The Showgrounds boss also said that he is considering bringing in one or two more new faces during the transfer window: “like everyone else, you’re always looking to strengthen. Obviously we’ve got financial constraints but we are looking to strengthen.”