Salford City boss Neil Wood believes his side are capable of ending their barren runs in front of goal and at home against Carlisle United.

The Blues’ hosts have not scored in five games in all competitions.

And their recent record at the Peninsula Stadium is poor with no home victories since August.

Salford have been better on the road as they have remained in the play-off picture, sitting a point and a position below Carlisle in ninth.

Their head coach believes getting the first goal is all-important when it comes to changing their fortunes at home.

“I’ve said this before – in the league we’ve found that teams come here and they’re ready to sit in and be in a defensive formation, and it’s difficult to break teams down,” said the former Manchester United Under-23s boss.

“It’s something we have to get better at. I’m sure if we score the first goal, teams have to come out and it’s a different game.

“But the longer it’s 0-0, other teams are happy to stay in it and nick a goal off a set-piece or a counter-attack.

“We have to start bright and find a way of scoring first, which we were doing very well early in the season. We need to get back to that.”

Salford have gone eight home games without a win in all competitions, while their goalless run currently stands at seven-and-a-half hours.

They have also failed to score in their last four home games, last netting at the Peninsula Stadium on October 1, and only scoring in one of their last seven in all competitions.

Wood, though, is hoping for a better afternoon against Paul Simpson’s visitors.

Speaking in a club interview, he added: “It’s a league where anyone can beat anyone. We’ve beaten Stevenage and Northampton, teams above us.

"I’m sure we can put a performance on and get three points on Saturday.”