TIM Flowers wants his side to be more ruthless after Redditch United claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win against 10-man Bishop’s Stortford.
Loanee Reuben Wyatt scored the game’s only goal on 16 minutes at the Valley Stadium while substitute Ryan Charles saw red for the visitors just before the hour mark.
And Flowers insists his side must start taking their chances after failing to extend their lead despite playing with an extra man for more than half an hour.
Flowers said: “I lose count of how many gilt-edged chances we missed, we deserved to win but we’ve got loads to work on, we’ve got to be more ruthless when we go forward.
“We’ve got to be a lot smarter to see a game out but I’m delighted with the start, we’ve just got to work hard and improve and keep moving forward.
“We’re still learning, Stratford are one of those seven or eight teams with a big budget and a huge squad, it will be one of our hardest games of the season.
“There’s a lot of quality within their squad, we’re going to have to be bang on it to get anything at all from that game and Stourbridge as well.
“I’m expecting two really tough games, we’re going into the games with confidence and we’ll have a right good go.”
The Reds broke the deadlock on 16 minutes as Wyatt curled a fine effort into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area to score his first goal for the club.
A medical emergency in the crowd led to a delay of almost half an hour as paramedics and medical staff from both clubs attended to a supporter in the crowd.
The home side spurned a number of chances to double their lead as Johnny Johnston failed to make the most of a one-on-one opportunity.
After the break, Musa Ceesay fired agonisngly wide after winning possession deep in the Bishop’s Stortford half.
And the visitors were reduced to 10-men on 56 minutes after Charles pushed Harry Leeson to the ground before dissenting the referee moments later to receive two yellow cards in quick succession.
The Reds could not make the man advantage count but held on to stretch their unbeaten run to three matches.
Redditch are next in action away at Stratford Town on Saturday, August 24 with kick-off at 3pm at the Arden Garages Stadium.
The Reds then host Stourbridge on Monday, August 26 with kick-off at 3pm at the Valley Stadium.
