'We've got to be more clinical in the final third' - South Shields boss issues message ahead of Bamber Bridge trip

Picton was critical of his players after Tuesday's 3-1 home loss to Radcliffe, which left the Mariners seven points behind leaders Warrington Town in the early Northern Premier League table.

He will judge them on their response to that disappointment, starting with Saturday's trip to Lancashire to face a Brig side which has opened up with four points from two games.

The joint manager feels Shields need to find more of a clinical edge in the final third to make the most of the promising positions they find themselves in.

Picton said: "When you look at the game on Tuesday in the cold light of day, yes we were way below our normal standards in a number of areas but we still should have won the game in terms of chances created.

"Jason Gilchrist hit the bar twice and hit the post in the second half, we had a couple of one-on-one situations, we went really close from a number of set-pieces and we had five or six balls that we flashed across the six yard box that just needed someone to get their toe-end on.

"We could have been talking about a different story, although there would have still been a lot of things we'd need to vastly improve on.

"Moving forwards, we've got to be more clinical in the final third and that's not just the forward players.

"When we get into good crossing areas our delivery has generally got to be better, as does our decision-making sometimes when we find ourselves three-v-three or four-v-four.

"We need to show a bit more composure with our final pass in and around the box, because generally speaking we have been really wasteful once we get into the higher areas of the pitch."

Picton knows that bouncing back to winning ways will not be an easy task for the Mariners against an impressive and motivated Bamber Bridge side who are returning from a two-week lay-off after a positive Covid test.

He has high expectations of his players, though, and wants them to show improved characteristics in Saturday's game.

He added: "We fully believe in the group that we've got and love working with our players.

"We think we have a fantastic dressing room but we have to be tougher.

"If we're honest, we're too nice to play against at times and we've got to develop some strategies to try to change that.

"Myself and Graham have to look at ourselves first and foremost whenever things are not going right.

"We've got to find a way of developing characteristics within our squad that are going to ultimately make us successful over the whole season.

"No matter what stage you're at it's a work in progress, but we've got plenty to go on."

Shields will remain without Nathan Lowe and Luke Daly for Saturday's 3pm kick-off at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium.

The match will be live streamed, with the details available via the Mariners' website at www.southshieldsfc.co.uk.