Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Northern Fury FC

Northern Fury coach Ian Ferguson isn't hitting the panic button just yet despite his club staring down the barrel of a club record sixth straight defeat this weekend.

Writing in his blog on the official Northern Fury website, Ferguson didn’t offer excuses for the lacklustre start to the season which sees his side sitting bottom of the table.

However, he did identify the areas of improvement that will be key as his side seeks to turn the form book on its head this weekend in Townsville against a Gold Coast City side that is undefeated in their past four outings.

“Despite the results so far, there are some positives to the way we’re playing,” Ferguson wrote.

“For those of you have seen us play – and we’ve only had one game at home so far – we’re doing reasonably well up to a certain point.”

Fury have conceded a league worst 16 goals this season – an average of more than three goals against in their five fixtures so far.

Ferguson said this needs to change if his side are to start picking up competition points and avoid surpassing the club's longest losing streak set in the 2014 campaign.

“What I have noted is that when we lose the first goal, we’re very vulnerable in the next 15 minutes. Other goals come quickly,” he explained.

“So what we need to do is, beyond stopping that first goal in the first place, is to work extra hard to plug the gaps so more goals are not scored.”

Ferguson added that as a regional club he faces the challenges of geographic isolation and population base from which to draw his squad and that player education takes time.

“We also have to understand as a football community that we don’t have a player pool to choose from that is as big as most other NPL clubs,” he concluded.

PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 6
Saturday, April 9
Northern Fury FC v Gold Coast City FC
Townsville Sports Reserve, Townsville
Kick-off at 7:00PM