Dundee boss Jim McIntyre has called on his shot-shy players to stop being tentative and instead pull the trigger when they have the chance in games.
The Dark Blues have yet to hit the back of the net in the four matches since the manager took over in the Dens Park hot-seat from Neil McCann last month.
They failed to score once more at Motherwell on Saturday, losing to a solitary David Turnbull wonder strike.
However, McIntyre was left frustrated as his players passed up opportunities of their own to shoot and he is looking to remedy that in this weekend’s crunch clash with fellow strugglers St Mirren at Dens.
He said: “People look at it as if we didn’t have a shot on goal (at Fir Park) and there wasn’t a lot of play in the forward areas but there was for us.
“There are several areas where it’s just got to be better and that’s where games are won and lost.
“Too many times we only have two guys in the box – you need to get four in there, you need to flood the box. We are working on that.
“It (scoring a goal) would make a huge difference, especially the first goal.
“Hopefully come Saturday we can get that but to get a goal – I will go back to where we were – two bodies in the box isn’t enough.
“We have to get more in the box and take more shots.”
McIntyre added: “There were opportunities to have two shots from the edge of the box and we tried to play it in.
“So for me, there has to be a bit more responsibility. I am giving them the freedom to pull the trigger but sometimes when you are on a run like this, they are maybe a wee bit tentative instead of taking the risk.
“They need to have the courage to take the risk, to play the risky pass and in the last third of the field, express themselves to go show their quality.
“That’s the message I have been giving to them – you have quality, don’t be safe but try to make something happen.”
While looking for his team to be more direct and dynamic in possession, McIntyre does not want his players to resort to route-one football.
He added: “I want more crosses into the box and we did have far more on Saturday and against Hearts.
“But we have to put teams under pressure. We have to get it wide, into the box and that’s not saying just lump it up the park.
“We have good footballers so play when it’s on to play.
“But there is a way we want to play and it’s get it into the wider areas and have those one v one situations to really put back fours under pressure.
“If we can do that and make sure we have four or five hitting the box, then we can cause them problems.”
