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Millwall boss desperate to end goal drought
KENNY Jackett says he is determined to solve the goalscoring crisis which has plagued Millwall's season ahead of Saturday's crunch clash with Carlisle.
The Lions have only managed 41 goals in a season of struggle at The Den and the problem was perfectly underlined in last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Leeds.
Despite creating a host of chances, Jackett's side again failed to find the target and with the club's League One status still not guaranteed the manager is determined to end the goal shortage against the Cumbrians.
He said: "We've been working very hard at it.
"There is no magic formula and I can't sprinkle some dust on them which is suddenly going to make it happen, but hard work, analysing how to break down the opposition and sheer perseverance are what is needed.
"We've had a poor season in terms of our results at home.
"Our crowd stuck with us last week and gave us everything, but the bottom line is we've had too many games where we haven't scored enough goals.
"It is an obvious one and something we must share right the way through the team."
One man who may have been able to solve the problem was Rotherham striker Chris O'Grady who was reported to have rejected a move to The Lions earlier in the week.
However, Jackett was keen to play down the significance of the stories which appeared and denied Millwall had been about to hand O'Grady a deal.
He explained: "I offered the guy at Rotherham a couple of days training here as a trial and he turned it down. It wasn't anything more than that.
"The press have reported we had made an offer and agreed terms but that wasn't the case.
"Mark Robins, who my chief scout Stuart Murdock knows very well, was in the situation where he wants to move him out because of the financial situation at Rotherham and we were prepared to have two days to have a look at him."
The Lions boss added: "Different strikers have been thrown at me and I would be lying if I said it wasn't an area I haven't looked at.
"Chris Zebroski is on loan at Torquay and he is our player so there are many permutations to make sure next year we go in armed with enough goals to make sure it is not a problem for us.
"I'm looking at every angle but if you ask me is it O'Grady or another person, I wouldn't be able to give you one particular name."
Millwall could be handed a major psychological boost going into the Carlisle game if Gillingham lose their home match against Swindon, which has a 12.30pm kick-off.
Defeat for the Gills would put them out of harm's way from Jackett's perspective with one game to play, but the boss has mixed views on the early start for the Kent side.
He said: "I don't know whether it is a good or bad thing.
"Undoubtedly we will hear what the result is and it isn't something we can keep away from.
"At the moment we are four points ahead of Gillingham with two games left and a better goal difference, so we are in a strong position.
"What we've got to do is capitalise on that by winning our games.
"The focus must remain on our performance and getting the result because that puts everything out of the way."
3:01pm Thursday 24th April 2008
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