Gillingham's Scott Kashket says self-belief is vital to improve form for League 2 strugglers
Published: 05:00, 01 November 2022
Gillingham forward Scott Kashket believes the players need to keep backing themselves to turn their season around.
A run of five League 2 games without a win has seen the Gills fall back into the bottom five.
Frustration is the name of the game for Kashket but he believes they aren’t that far away from a change in fortune.
“The biggest thing is how frustrated you feel,” said Kashket. “It’s not like people aren’t working hard, we’re running ourselves into the ground and it’s not enough.
“It’s finding that formula which is going to get us over the line. We’ve had it a couple of times this year but it’s not enough.
“The changing room is a great group of boys, people aren’t sitting there slating each other. If it’s an individual constantly messing up you [can get them out of the side] but it’s not that. That’s the frustrating thing.
“It could be as little as not getting the ball in the box enough. Do we get the ball in the box enough? Do we maintain attacks? If we don’t score goals, we have to keep a clean sheet but you can’t ask the defence to keep a clean sheet every game.
“Everyone knows their game. When things aren’t going your way maybe you think a little differently but you have to trust yourself, do the things that you know work.
“That’s the hard bit when the goals aren’t going in, to stay positive and not want it too much.
“You look at the table, see the teams we’ve played against and you know on another day we’re beating them. You’re thinking why on earth is there such a big gap? The reason is because we’re not taking our chances and they’re taking theirs - it’s as simple as that.
“As a team I don’t think we create enough chances but when we do we have to take them.”
The 26-year-old former Leyton Orient and Wycombe forward wants to be more involved in the team’s build-up play.
But is also conscious that he needs to stay in the right positions, even if the ball doesn’t always arrive.
“As a forward you’re asked to stay in between the posts, you can get the ball, keep it, get in the box,” stated Kashket.
“If the ball doesn’t come in, you can’t score. So, am I getting it in the wrong position? Are people not putting it in? it’s hard. You have to watch the game back (to know).
“I look back at each game, look at the positioning, where should I be? [If I’m not there] then I will learn for next time and if I’m in the right position then keep being there. If the ball comes, it comes and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I can only focus about where I’m going to be.
“It gets frustrating as you want to start dropping deeper to get on the ball. You’ve got to remember you’re the highest man forward so if you’re not in the box, no-one is going to be. That’s the frustrating bit, the lack of chances being created.”
The 1-0 reverse at Doncaster was a second away defeat in a row for the Gills following their 2-0 loss at leaders Leyton Orient.
Kashket knows greater consistency across the 90 minutes could have yielded a decent points return.
“Overall, it was a good performance but even after a game where the team worked hard we’ve still come out with a 1-0 defeat,” reflected Kashket on the Doncaster game.
“It’s a very frustrating defeat, that’s what is happening at the moment. We’ve got to be better in both boxes. There’s a lot of positives to take from the game but we can’t keep having the same story.
“Something has to change. It feels like we’re not far off so hopefully we can get it right next game.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, a team at the bottom or top. If you look back at the last couple of games in the first 45 minutes we’ve been the better side, we just need to do that for 90 minutes.
“We played Orient and were on top of them but then we switched on. That’s the key, the consistency for 90 minutes.”
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Matthew Panting