Dagnall confident he can get back on Scunthorpe goal trail
CONFIDENT Chris Dagnall is adamant he can score goals in the Championship.
But the Scunthorpe United striker accepts it is something he has not done enough of so far this season.
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SOMETHING TO PROVE: Chris Dagnall, seen here watching from the bench during last weekend's 5-1 defeat against Hull City, wants to get among the goals more. Picture: Carl Gac.
Former Tranmere trainee Dagnall moved to Glanford Park last summer, on the back of scoring 20 times to help Rochdale to promotion from League Two last season.
But he has so far struggled to replicate that form in what has been a tough introduction to the second tier.
Dagnall has notched just once in the past 14 appearances going into Saturday's tough trip to high-flying Cardiff. His tally for the season is six.
He knows that is a figure that must improve if the Iron, currently seven points adrift of safety, are to somehow climb out of trouble.
"I'm not happy with my own form because I don't think I've scored anywhere near enough goals," the honest 24-year-old told the Telegraph.
"But as a team overall we haven't scored enough goals, that's our main problem at this moment in time.
"Once we've started to score more, then we have to look at why we're not winning, if that's still the case.
"I'm confident in my own ability. I feel if I get chances I'm going to score them, it's just that in the last few games I've not been getting chances.
"No-one has really, that's been a major problem for us.
"When the chances do start to come along, hopefully I will start scoring."
One reason why Dagnall has struggled to find the back of the net with any amount of regularity, is the fact he has often been played too deep.
That's something he is trying to correct, unless he is specifically asked to fulfil that role, though with Scunthorpe struggling to hold the ball up in attack it's proving a difficult challenge.
"At times the manager has asked me to play deep, at other times I've done it myself," said Dagnall.
"If I'm not getting involved in games I feel I've got to drop deeper to try to correct that.
"I enjoy that, but I'll play anywhere the manager wants me too, whether that's on the shoulder of the last defender or deeper."
Dagnall hopes the arrival of Joe Garner and Lee Miller during January will give the Iron a bigger goalscoring threat.
He also feels the chance to play alongside a big striker, as he did at Dale with Chris O'Grady, will bring the best out of his own game.
That is an opportunity though for which he may have to wait, with last Saturday's defeat against Hull City seeing Dagnall dropped to the bench for only the fourth time this season.
"Everyone expected the changes in January, now hopefully the competition will bring the best out of players," he added.
"We've got a bit of variety, which will hopefully help.
"Every team needs a partnership up front, two players who can play well together.
"More often than not that's a target man, playing alongside someone a bit smaller, so hopefully I'll get a chance to play with Mills and try to kick things off.
"It's probably fair to say the partnership with Jonno (Jonathan Forte) never really came off.
"I thought we did well at times, but we weren't consistent enough and neither of us scored enough goals.
"He's gone now to Southampton, so we've got to look to the future."
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by Mr.G, right here
Thursday, February 10 2011, 10:24PM
“A Horsefield type player Kez - what injury prone or good at holding up a ball?
Ah yes because McCant was so good in keeping presure off the defence, yeah he scored the odd free kick or pen, but he tackled, tracked his man and passed about aswell as Josh Wright does now! Just in case you dont understand that - both players are unable to any of the above!
You want a player like McCant - you have him in Josh Wright”
by Kez, Scunny
Thursday, February 10 2011, 8:19PM
“Didnt we have one of them last time we got relegated in Goodwin, Mr G?
Next thing you'll be asking for a Horsfield type of player!!!
Get real! Our midfield is pants which leads to presure on the defence and presure on the strikers because they are having to live off scraps.
As I've said 20-30 goals missing from midfield players alone since last year, you just cant win games when we have no goal threat from midfield.”
by 1500club, On my way to see Ben E King
Thursday, February 10 2011, 7:35PM
“Nabbing Pressman Jaffa Cakes wont do Dagnall any favours!
It's like this - there are dozens of athletic, fast, pacy, full of running centre forwards out there...they look the part in the first few games at their clubs and have all the strength and fitness in the World but that isnt what makes a finisher - a natural scorer (and we've had loads) just scores and it doesnt matter if they are hungover or done nothing all game apart from pull there LONG SLEEVES shirts over their knuckles..they have a natural nack to finishing and a LOVE of netting...Forte had/has everything in his locker - we've all seen him hit scissor kicks, bicycle kicks, overhead kicks, long range shots etc but he has all the finishing ability of a FLY IN FLIP FLOPS - Andy Flounders, Steve Cammack, Billy Sharp and Steve Maclean would score goals in any Scunthorpe team in ANY division....if a forward cant score one in three within ten games for SUFC he wont ever do it - I challenge anyone to name an Iron centre forward who has 'come good eventually'...on that basis, we should bin Dagnall like we did Forte - he wont ever score goals for us but he probably would elsewhere.
NO ROOM FOR SENTIMENTALLITY - GIVE GODDEN A CHANCE AND I HE HE DOESNT TAKE IT MOVE HIM ON TOO.”
by Mr.G, right here
Thursday, February 10 2011, 3:24PM
“Ah yes, McCant he's just the sort of good tackling player we need in a relegation fight.”
by Kerry, Scunny
Thursday, February 10 2011, 1:03PM
“The trouble is McCann and Sparrow are in with a real chance of playing in a higher league than us next year....
We have lost 30 goals from midfield with Woolford, McCann, Sparrow and Thompson either leaving or being injured and the reserves from last season ( Togwell, Wright and O'Connor have failed to step upto the plate).”
by Eddie Murphy, Beverley Hills
Thursday, February 10 2011, 12:41PM
“Kerry - agreed about needing a passing midfielder, and McCann, when he was on form, was that player. Unfortunately, he rarely played to his true potential, and while I wasn't too sorry to see him leave (to go to a lower league, let's not forget), the club made no attempt to replace him. But then, that's the story of this season, isn't it?”
by Eddie Murphy, Beverley Hills
Thursday, February 10 2011, 12:40PM
“Kerry - agreed about needing a passing midfielder, and McCann, when he was on form, was that player. Unfortunately, he rarely played to his true potential, and while I wasn't too sorry to see him leave (to go to a lower league, let's not forget), the club made no attempt to replace him. But then, that's the story of this season, isn't it?”
by Kerry, Scunny
Thursday, February 10 2011, 12:19PM
“Its no good playing through midfield if the players are not good enough to pass the ball to one of his team mates consistantly (Togwell).
We have had a decent passing side because we had McCann in midfield who could pass the ball. He got hounded out because the numpties wanted a headless chicken and its come back to bite them.
Eddie cast your mind back to the last time we were in the championship before McCann signed when we had Goodwinn (another headless chicken) our football was dross and we created hardly any chances.
People need to realise the grass is not always greener before slagging our best players off consistantly as they leave for nothing and we are a worse side for it!”
by Mr Kipling, Scuncake
Thursday, February 10 2011, 12:12PM
“No wonder he's not scoring goals if he's on the bench chomping on Jaffa Cakes!”
by jimmy krankie, crackerjack
Thursday, February 10 2011, 11:52AM
“Can't see Dagnall scoring goals for us in League 1 next season..it's difficult to do when you run round like a headless chicken on the half way line.”