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Akrigg rues missed chances in FA Cup defeat

Akrigg rues missed chances in FA Cup defeat

Callum Chadwick9 Sep 2019 - 16:00
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Co-boss reflects on Widnes' heavy FA Cup exit at the hands of Whitby Town

Widnes co-boss Steve Akrigg believes his side were punished for missed chances in Saturday's 4-0 Emirates FA Cup defeat at home to Whitby Town.

The Whites were knocked out of the FA Cup by a ruthless and clinical Seasiders, who sit 2nd in the Northern Premier League Premier Division - one league above and 33 places higher than Widnes.

Speaking after the game, Akrigg felt that the scoreline may have flattered Whitby, but admitted that his side didn't do enough on the day.

"I think we probably got what we deserved in the end," Akrigg said.

"We've had a couple of decent chances but conceded soft goals and to be fair to Whitby, I think they had five or six chances and scored four, so credit to them.

"The scoreline flatters them in terms of there not being too much between the sides and the chances we had, but we've got to be more clinical in front of goal.

"At the other end, we've conceded a free header from a set-piece which isn't good enough at any level and when you're playing against a higher-level side, you can't afford to give sloppy goals away.

"There's a reason Whitby are second in the league above. They're quite robust, patient in waiting for chances and clinical in front of goal."

Akrigg bemoaned his side's lack of cutting edge in the final third, and while it has been an unspectacular but solid start to the season, the Widnes co-boss is expecting more in front of goal moving forward.

He said: "I can probably pinpoint a number of missed chances in nearly every game we've played this season.

"The goalless draw at Kendal aside, I think we've missed three or four really good chances in every other game.

"Against sides with good quality, missed chances come back to haunt you and Whitby certainly punished us in that regard.

"I think we could have done a lot more with the ball. It was slow at times and we could have created more to give us a chance of getting something, but if you concede soft goals like we did, it's always going to be difficult against higher-level opposition."

With the tie against Whitby coming less than four days after Widnes' dramatic preliminary round replay win at Mossley, Akrigg agreed with the suggestion that the heroics of midweek may have contributed to an unusually laboured Whites performance.

"I think from watching Saturday's game and the way we played, I think we looked a bit lethargic but to be fair, I thought we started pretty well," Akrigg said.

"Ben (Hodkinson) has had a really good chance early on and once they've gone in front, I think Whitby were happy to let us play and we didn't work the ball in behind enough.

"It was a completely different game to the Mossley replay which was a lot more open than Saturday, but I just thought we looked slow and the tempo wasn't at the usual heights we hit."

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