BOSS Trevor Senior has instructed his misfiring strike force to be selfish and concentrate purely on scoring goals.

Senior, a deadly marksman in his heyday, has highlighted his forwards’ off-colour perform-ances as a serious problem that needs rectifying.

Dan Wise is the club’s top scorer with five league goals to his name, while fellow midfielder Darren Watts has chipped in with three from 13 appearances.

Matt Moors, whose season has been plagued by injury, has also found the back of the net three times but Ashley Clarke and Lewis Cocker’s combined tally of two leaves much to be desired.

The cliché that goals win games has never been more appropriate and the Bees’ supremo has emphasised the importance of a better collective return from his sharpshooters.

Senior said: “There have been many occasions this season when we’ve been in charge of matches but haven’t been able to kills teams off.

“Being a centre-forward myself I know how crucial it is for someone to be in the six-yard box waiting to pounce when the chance comes.

“Our forwards seem to do so much work outside the area that when the ball is played into the box, there is nobody there to apply the finishing touch.

“In training we are working on breaking in numbers so that when a chance arises, there’s someone there to score.

“If the midfielders can break together then the strikers can focus on being ready in the box.”

Tomorrow the Bees will embark on a run of four straight matches on the road, starting with a trip to Shepton Mallet (3pm).

After that is the rearranged Les Phillips Cup first round tie at Brislington on Tuesday night before journeys to Almondsbury and Roman Glass St George on successive weekends.

Such has been the weather disruption of late that Shepton’s last taste of competitive football was their 2-1 victory over Clevedon United back on December 12.

With 19 points from 18 matches the Somerset outfit are one spot above 16th-placed Bridport in the Toolstation Western League Division One table.

Senior believes a first maximum haul since November 4 will alleviate the mounting pressure on his players, who are by no means assured of avoiding a relegation dogfight.

He added: “Our next three games are all against teams we can beat, and a win or two would enable us to stop looking over our shoulders.

“We’ve lost four games on the bounce so we need to start a run of victories. Although we’re not in the drop-zone, we aren’t miles clear of it either.”

On the fitness front, Moors is struggling to shake-off a persistent virus that has limited the amount of training he has done, while Cocker could be handed a rare starting berth.

Bees (from): Evans, Hill, C Clarke, Lock, Hayter, Senior, Jones, Wise, J Symes, Moors, Cocker, A Symes, A Clarke, Cummings.

n Bridport Reserves welcome their Wincanton Town counterparts to St Mary’s Field tomorrow (3pm) in the Dorset Senior Trophy.