SWINDON Town midfielder Mo Dabre needs to add more goals to his game in order to take the next step as a professional, according to Chippenham Town manager Mike Cook.
Dabre joined the Bluebirds on loan in February in a bid to gain first-team experience following the 19-year-old’s summer move from the Valenti Academy.
Cook revealed he had spoken to the energetic midfielder about timing his runs better and helping Chippenham’s narrow midfield make the most of counter-attacking opportunities by chipping in with goals more often.
Following four starts without a goal, Dabre scored the winner against Billericay Town on Saturday during his fifth appearance – his first as a substitute.
Discussing the key area in which the Swindon loanee could most quickly develop, Cook said: “I enjoy working with those sorts of players because Mo is keen to listen and learn.
“Overall, he’s done quite well here, but what he’s not been giving us is goals like Harry Parsons and Ricky Aguiar did.
“That’s why he’s come to us – it’s to help get him into goalscoring positions more often.
“It doesn’t just happen overnight. He’s training full-time with Swindon and trying to pick some things up there, and then he’s doing that again with us in the evening.”
Dabre’s first goal for the Bluebirds was a special one due to not only the way in which he scored it but also because it garnered Chippenham all three points in their 1-0 win.
After Billericay failed to clear, Dabre latched onto a loose ball before curling back across himself and into the top corner.
The reason the 19-year-old was on the edge of the box in the first place was down to work on the training ground, according to his boss.
Cook said: “We’ve been working with him in training on that.
“We didn’t start him on Saturday because we’ve been a bit disappointed that he’s not arriving in the box late and he’s not getting in the box when a cross comes in from the opposite side.
“We’re not always going to get crosses in because we play quite narrow in midfield. We need all four of those diamond midfield players to get into and around the 18-yard box when we’re attacking.
“To be fair to him, he did a lot better on Saturday. He was thinking about the game a little bit more and trying to get himself into some good positions. That’s why the goal came.”
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