IF I'm being completely ruthless in analysing our season to date we have not scored enough goals.

Take out the seven we clocked up against Bath City and we are short in the goals for column.

Leon Kelly is shaping up to be the 25 goal a season man we are looking for but elsewhere we are definitely lacking goals in midfield.

Darren Middleton has not hit the net so regularly this time round though that's not entirely his fault because he's been getting in good positions only to be let down by the final ball.

Adam Wilde plus Carl Heeley, Jon Holloway and Allan Davies have chipped in with a few but David Foy, Pat Lyons and John Snape have still to hit the target.

That's an area we must try to improve on.

In fact it's been a tough old month to try to hit the net, playing as we have been against teams from above us in the table.

To give us an edge in future contests I'd love to bring in some new players.

If I was compiling my Christmas wish-list today I would like four new players - one from each area of the pitch and an additional player.

But we all know you don't always get what you want at Christmas.

We must try to work within budget parameters, which we've shown we can do, but balancing the demands in terms of quality and quantity of player, plus expectation levels for the club is difficult criteria to meet.

Chatting to Steve Claridge after the Weymouth game revealed the Terras boss wasn't too happy with the refereeing. All I can say to him is that he should have been at Hinckley United last night.

Even Dean Thomas admitted the challenge on Leon Kelly was a penalty.

As so often it comes down to consistency but I was interested to discover that Saturday's referee had not officiated at our level for three months.

Another point that has emerged from speaking to a few refs after matches when incidents have cracked off is that some of them have admitted the pace of the game, even at Dr Martens Premier Division level, has found them wanting.

It's little wonder then that some of their decisions can drive you to distraction.

Being on the pace of the game is crucial for us, not only because it sets the tempo of the match, but because it brings genuine benefits.

'Closer' is a word you'll often hear me shouting at the players as I try to get them to press the opposition. That was thrown at me donkey's years ago and I believe in its benefits.

Just look at our second goal against Weymouth. That was entirely due to Paul Carty with a great tackle that led to a goal for Leon Kelly.

At this level if you can get enough pressure on players with the ball they struggle to keep it.

That was our game plan for Claridge. Because of his reputation and where he's come from he'll have to get used to it but Barry Woolley did a good job of shackling him.

Saturday brings a trip to Chippenham Town who have struggled to date. At the start of the season I was particularly interested to see how both they and Stafford Rangers did after such good seasons last year.

The test always comes the following year because the opposition have sussed you out second time round and it's always a little harder as both clubs are finding in this current campaign.

JOHN BARTON was talking to reporter NAT SYLVESTER.