Manager Joe Conneely admitted he was frustrated by the goalless draw at Nuneaton Griff but pleased with his side’s defensive concentration that saw them keep a first away clean sheet since February.
Hinckley played out their first 0-0 stalemate in more than a year at The Pingles as a sedate A5 derby yielded little goalmouth action.
For Conneely, his concern comes with his side only registering two points from a possible 12 away from home so far.
And he said the game drew parallels with the trip to Wednesfield ten days earlier.
This time, though, his side defended well to earn a point.
He said: “It was frustrating more than anything. Griff had a gameplan and made it difficult for us. We had a lot of the play which we knew would happen but couldn’t make it count.
WThe pitch doesn’t help, it’s the worst I’ve seen it here, and it made it scrappy for both teams. I’m sure Griff don’t want it how it is but it is what it is.
“But we kept a clean sheet and we said at half time to make sure we don’t concede and worst case we draw 0-0.”
But the manager admits his side need to find a way of winning games on those pitches.
Four consecutive wins at Kirkby Road means their form has been contrasting depending on venue. Conneely is calling on his players to show more quality on the ball to create more clearcut chances.
He also wants his strikers to be more clinical and show a finishing touch.
“I feel sorry for the fans who watched it because there wasn’t much going on. But we’re going to get that, we’ve said it all summer.
“If the boys thought this would be as free flowing as last season, it’s a massive shock. This league is so much more difficult. We were blowing teams away inside 15 minutes last year, but these teams are more organised and rigid off the ball. We need to get used to that.
“Whether that’s trying to bring more quality in, but we need to find a way to break teams down. We lacked quality again.
“You try and set a team up for the circumstances and we tried to get our more technical players on the pitch but it didn’t happen. We’d like a goalscorer but they’re difficult to find, and we may need more quality from deeper.”
The former Coventry Copsewood boss had two major positives from the game – with the returns of Jack Edwards and Tom Weale to the midfield.
Edwards re-signed from Atherstone Town this week and was handed a starting berth on his return to the club.
Meanwhile, Weale made a late ten-minute cameo as a substitute in his first action of the season after injury.
And Conneely was delighted to see the pair of them back on the pitch for his side.
“Wealey played ten minutes, we tried to get the ball into him and it worked a bit. But he hasn’t done anything all summer so we need to manage him.
“And it was fantastic to have Jack back in. He cramped up after an hour because he hasn’t played much but it’s great to have him back where he feels comfortable. It didn’t happen for him at Atherstone and sometimes that happens, that’s football.
“But he’s come back and he’s hungry to do well and we’ll try and get the best out of him.”
