Marcus Harness is concerned about his lack of goals in recent months and even admits the problem has been preying on his mind.
Signed from Portsmouth last summer, he has scored seven times in 34 appearances, including 10 from the bench, but is currently in a 12-game barren spell since netting in the 2-0 win at Exeter in November, the last time Town banked three points on the road.
Harness, who turns 27 later this month, was asked if he was due a goal and said: "Yes, some of that is weighing on me a bit. I just need to keep trying to get into the right positions and I’m sure it’ll come.
"I’ve always found a way to score goals, even if there have been patches when they don’t come.
"I know it will happen if I continue trying to do the right things and I don’t let it get me down. The fact that I’m thinking about it — and maybe over-thinking it — could be holding me back even more.
"Luckily, we’ve got a lot of players contributing and scoring goals, which maybe eases it a bit, but I’m always looking to get my name back on the scoresheet and hopefully it will come sooner rather than later.”
It’s five goals from 27 outings in League One, in which he was in the starting line-up on 19 occasions, and prior to his move to Portman Road he was never that prolific, although he was consistently being credited with assists at Burton and Portsmouth, for whom he scored a total of 28 league goals in 179 appearances, 120 from the start.
He came on to replace Conor Chaplin 68 minutes into Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday and reflected: "There was a period in the first half where it was really difficult and the boys had to kind of regroup and settle down as they withstood a lot of pressure.
"Luckily, we came out in the second half and managed to salvage something from the game.
"We’ve just got to try to keep a positive mindset and put a positive spin on things really. We don’t want to get bogged down in being too negative.
"Obviously, there are places where we can improve and there is also a lot to take from it. We’ve gone behind against Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday, and some other teams, and every time we go behind we seem to react really well to get ourselves back in the game.
"So, that’s a positive from the situation, I guess. It’s just about trying to add that urgency, maybe, to our play when it’s an even game or even when we’re one goal ahead and we need to push on and maybe kill games off a bit better.”
Town showed plenty of character to peg back the Owls, who raced into a two-goal lead after Chaplin saw an earlier penalty saved, and Harness added: "Going through adversity as a group, that’s what makes you stronger and brings people together.
"We need to face adversity throughout a season and hopefully it’s a good time to face some of that now so we can learn the lessons from it and have a strong finish to the season.”
Manager Kieran McKenna has seen his side take Championship leaders Burnley all the way in two pulsating FA Cup games, yet his team has lost valuable ground in the automatic promotion race thanks to a run of just four wins from their last 14 league games, banking 18 points from a possible 42.
They have not won back-to-back league games since October last year, so why have wins been so hard to come by? "There are a lot of factors,” said Harness. "There’s no doubt we can be better in places and we’ve also had some luck go against us, maybe, and other different things.
"But we can’t change that now so all we can do is to try get some momentum building and if there’s a good time for that it’s mid-February. If we can get the ball rolling now, we’re in a great position to be where we want to be at the end of the season.”
After the long trek to Burnley last week, Town are back on the road today in readiness for tomorrow evening’s game against Bristol Rovers and further trips to Bolton, Cheltenham and Fleetwood await, prompting the question of how Harness and his colleagues find the long journeys.
He said: "It’s difficult but it’s all part and parcel of being a footballer to spend hours on the road. Every other team has to make the same trips as well and at least we have a big squad that can work in our favour.
"There are other clubs who don’t have the same luxury and can’t change to bring fresh legs into the side.
"We just look to be thoroughly professional and prepare as best we can, and when we have a long trip, we try to turn up in the best shape we can, both mentally and physically, for the challenge that lies ahead.”