Martinez hopeful of goals

Last updated : 05 February 2010 By Paul Farrington

Jason Scotland has had a particularly tough time in front of goal, and may well benefit from the reduced pressure should Moses and Moreno start to find the back of the net.

Latics boss Roberto Martinez told the Wigan Evening Post: "The two new signings will give us better competition up front. And it is clear to see we have been very low on confidence in front of goal this season.

"If you look at the chances we missed on Tuesday night, and the chances we missed on Saturday, we need to be scoring goals when we create such good opportunities.

"Your concentration and starting positions from set-plays are aspects you have to master, and we'll continue to work on putting that right.

"We have to improve in that department – we can't leave ourselves with mountains to climb in every game and we have to be solid enough to defend from every set-play.

"It comes down to individual jobs. We use a mix of zonal and man-marking systems from set-pieces, and when you have your own job to look after a man it's disappointing when it goes wrong."

Also frustrating for the Latics is the weakness from set pieces at the other end. In particular, Maynor Figueroa has been at fault for three games running now.

Niko Kalinic, Tim Cahill and Stephen Hunt have all escaped the full back in the last three matches to net from corner kicks. A fact that the Honduran will be hoping to improve on against Sunderland.

It is unclear whether Moses or Moreno will be thrust straight into the team on Saturday, but given the level of performance against Notts County a debut for the duo would not be suprising.

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