Boost for Linnets as leaders head to The Walks

He will go into the game with a higher degree of confidence, probably because in the weekend win at Aldershot his players showed him two vital attributes: the strikers can score and the defenders can defend.

Both ends of the pitch – and to be fair, the bit in between as well - have come under fire in this difficult campaign. But Widdrington was happy to see bodies being put on the line to keep the ball out of Paul Jones’s net – and his two strikers to do their bit at the other end.

Malachi Linton scored the first two goals and teed up Gold Omotayo for the third in time added on. Neither player has been showered with praise this season. Linton’s league tally is now eight but, importantly, four in the last four games, while, Omotayo’s is three, although it’s at a time when he is arguably in his best form in Lynn colours.

With the player registration deadline fast approaching, it could be that the long pursuit – if it can be called that – of striker reinforcements, will finally be put to bed. Widdrington himself has never fully bought into the notion that he needed an addition – his intention was to make life better for existing resources – which is exactly what happened to Linton on Saturday.

“He’s a frustrating character is Mal,” said the Lynn boss. “He is very, very laid back, knows how to give you the deaf one now and again, which is very frustrating as a manager - what I mean by that is the ear closest to me doesn’t hear sometimes what I am telling him on the pitch, but he is a likeable lad and he has got really good attributes.

“He is very quick, he gets in the right areas to score goals. Like I said, it is one of those things where he wasn’t scoring goals and now he is. Something’s changed there and it’s because we’re putting him in the right positions on the pitch to get there. From that point of view, a pat on the back to the coaching staff and also a pat on the back for Mal because we are asking him to do something slightly different from what he was doing before.”

Gold Omotayo got a late goal at Aldershot - a match he was originally due to be left out of (Image: Ian Burt Photography)

Widdrington had originally decided to leave Omotayo out of his starting line-up at Aldershot but had a change of heart.

"I have to be honest here, I wasn’t going to play him.” he said.

"A couple of people didn’t train particularly well yesterday (Friday) so I changed my mind because he did, and he did that (header) about four times in training. So I thought, right he has an ideal opportunity because with all due respect to Aldershot I don’t think it is a strength of theirs, so I changed my mind overnight so unfortunately that meant one younger lad who was going to start, didn’t get a start, but that was because how he and somebody else trained. I always say to them sometimes they can force the hand and he did – and in fairness to him, I thought it was a fantastic goal. It was meat and drink him, that is what he does.”

Widdrington has clearly had enough of answering questions about an incoming striker.

“I am delighted for the forwards because nearly every time someone sticks one of them (a microphone) in my face they’re asking which striker I am going to sign next,” he said.

“I said it when I came into the building, sometimes you don’t need more, or better, you have to work with what you have got and give them the belief and the encouragement that I can provide different things for them, ie, service.”