Cardiff City boss Mark Hudson says his side are working hard on the training ground to try and find the 'killer instinct' needed to turn games into points, and insists his team are close to rectifying their problems in front of goal.
The Bluebirds are currently the lowest scorers in the Championship, and drew a blank once again in the 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day, meaning they have now failed to score in 10 league games this season.
It's clearly a central issue to Cardiff's struggles, although their run of three games unbeaten since returning from the recent World Cup break, has clearly been taken as something of a positive by the City boss.
However, he admits Cardiff simply cannot afford to continue to be so blunt in front of goal, and says his players have been working hard on the training ground to try and rectify things.
"You've got to recreate the moments of where it is you're going to get your chances, and putting the players in positions to be under stress in that situation," Hudson said.
"The training level's been very good. The work we put in is to recreate those moments. It is repetition. That's part and parcel of it. Then when you're in the game, you've got to realise you've been in that moment over and over again and remain calm. You've got to find that killer instinct."
Asked whether the players were scoring in training, he laughed: "I can assure you they're scoring in training!"
Hudson believes his side aren't too far away from getting things to click in the final third, and insists there's a real platform on which to build ahead of Wednesday night's trip to Coventry City, which is the first of two tough away games.
"You've got Callum's header that goes whispering past the post," he added. "Then Kion finds himself again in a good moment. That's something we're finding. We're in the areas where we can score goals.
"But then it's just about the belief. They've got to maintain it. Everyone has. Three unbeaten is a platform to build on now. We keep teams out, but we've got to go and put the ball in the back of the net."
Asked if his optimism meant he was looking up rather than down the table, he added: "Always. I'm always looking up. It is so tight and it is a couple of wins away from being seventh, eighth, we've just got to find that killer instinct.
"We're two wins away from being seventh or maybe eighth, so it's something we'll continue to do. We'll continue to be positive. The platform we've given ourselves in the last three, we've got to continue that."
Hudson's efforts to try and sharpen up in front of goal could soon be in for a boost, with young forward Isaak Davies closing in on a first team return.
"He's pushing, which is good," he continued. "Like I said, his last tick box was last week where we had to play that game. He's back with the squad, training and pushing to get involved for sure."
Many will be hoping Davies can make a positive impact, and Hudson admits there is likely to be a certain level of expectation on the youngster's shoulders when he returns.
And, as with fellow homegrown star Rubin Colwill, the City boss says Davies will be carefully managed on his return.
"There always is. He's homegrown and he's a great lad. He's exciting and I suppose he's got that little edge where he's explosive as a player. Of course there's expectation. But I will say that he's been out for six months. Maybe longer.
"So it's going to take time. I'll go back to what I said before, but I don't want to risk players or put players into a position where they get injured or their form's not great. They've got to find their rhythm. I think we've done that with the players. You've seen everyone that's come back they look ready. That's what we'll do with Isaak at the moment."
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