Motherwell midfielder Craig Clay hopes to break his scoring duck against Killie
Craig Clay hopes plenty of practice - and a few tips from James McFadden - can help him break his duck for Motherwell.
Craig Clay hopes plenty of practice - and a few tips from James McFadden - can help him break his duck for Motherwell.
The midfielder hit five goals in two seasons for Grimsby but has yet to get off the mark since his summer move to Fir Park.
The 24-year-old thought he had done so against Hearts in September before Jack Hamilton pulled off a stunning reaction stop.
Since then Clay has been putting in the hours on the training ground to rectify the situation ahead of Saturday's visit of Kilmarnock.
"I do want to add goals to my game," he said. "As a midfielder you want to get six or seven goals, hopefully the penny will drop soon. Maybe it's a bit of composure or a little bit of luck.
"I keep going back to the one against Hearts where the keeper made a save. If that had gone in, maybe it would have given me that little bit of confidence to go on and get a few. But you can't look at things like that. It's not going in for a reason, so I just need to make sure I put it in the bottom corner next time."
Assistant manager McFadden is trying to help Clay find his range.
"Fads is great at finishing in training, he puts them in bottom corner, top corner, so you don't have to look too far for tips," Clay said. "I was doing a bit of finishing practice the other week and he was just telling me little things, like my technique with my arm. Every little bit of advice you take on the chin and try to add it to your game. I will keep working on it and hopefully the penny will drop soon.
"I played a bit deeper down south and have never really got more than three or four goals in a season, so that's what I need to work on. I have come in and put extra time on my shooting. They say practice makes perfect so we will soon find out."
Motherwell are looking to build on the three goals they scored against Celtic last week in a game which ultimately ended in disappointment when Tom Rogic hit a last-minute winner for the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders. And Clay believes they have found a recipe for success.
"We had a chat between us the other week in the changing room and said we needed to find what's best for us," he said. "I think on Saturday we found it, pressing in people's faces and stuff like that. If we played like that against any other team, I think we would have taken three points. Celtic just upped it and had that little bit of class."