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Cambridge United head coach Mark Bonner on changing their fortunes in front of goal and Saturday’s League One clash with Portsmouth




Mark Bonner insists his Cambridge United side need to be more creative in order to start scoring on a more regular basis.

The relegation-threatened U's have scored 26 goals in 33 league games so far this season, the joint-second lowest tally in all of Sky Bet League One.

Cambridge head into a home double-header against Portsmouth (tomorrow, 3pm) and Morecambe (Tuesday, 7.45pm) having drawn a blank in their two away defeats at Fleetwood Town (1-0) and Exeter City (2-0) last week.

Mark Bonner prepares his Cambridge United side to face Portsmouth tomorrow Picture: Simon Lankester
Mark Bonner prepares his Cambridge United side to face Portsmouth tomorrow Picture: Simon Lankester

The U's currently sit in 23rd place in League One, two places and two points from safety, and head coach Bonner knows their record in front of goal must improve if they are to avoid the drop.

"Overall for us this season we've under hit in terms of scoring goals and creating chances," he said.

"That's not just the strikers that play. That's across the team. That's on all of us to be a more creative team.

"There's been so many games that have definitely been really close and therefore, when we're in them, we've got to win them.

"When we're on top, we've got to win them and in those moments that's the big thing for us.

"Only when that happens we'll probably find a bit more confidence and energy to be what we need to be.

"I'm sure that we can get them firing, and we've got some good players here, but at the minute we've just got to find that rhythm to our attacking play.

"We won't win every game, we know that. We've got to win enough games and we've got to make sure we're an attacking threat to do that.

"Part of that comes from the intensity and purpose without the ball and part of that comes from the decision making and quality with it, and then the ruthlessness and clinical nature to finish chances when you get them.

"I've got to try and take the weight of the world off their shoulders. Pressure's for tyres and we've got to remember that."

Cambridge welcome a Portsmouth side to the Abbey Stadium this weekend who have hit some form since appointing John Mousinho as their new manager in January.

Pompey have picked up 17 points from Mousinho's first nine games in charge, including back-to-back wins against Cheltenham Town (4-0) and Bolton Wanderers (3-1) in the last week.

Tomorrow's visitors will still hold hopes of a late push for the play-offs, sitting in 10th place, but with an 11-point gap to overturn during the last few months of the season.

"They've been fairly consistent in terms of their shape and the players that have played," said Bonner, who made the trip to Fratton Park on Tuesday night to watch Portsmouth's win against Bolton.

"I thought they were excellent against Bolton on Tuesday. They got a really good result coming from behind and the crowd really lifted them and helped them.

"You can see they've got that little bounce in energy. They've got an outside bet of the play-offs.

"They're saying themselves it might be a stretch too far, but at the moment they've certainly got some momentum back into the season.

"They've played with a real good attacking intent and they've got some very good forward options."



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