ANDY MORRISON is confident Connah’s Quay Nomads will be celebrating back-to-back Flintshire derby victories if they sharpen up in-front of goal.

Morrison takes Nomads to his former club Airbus this evening after a 2-1 Boxing Day defeat of the Wingmakers at the Deeside Stadium.

Jamie Insall and John Disney handed Nomads the three points, but a late penalty from ex-Quay frontman Andy Owens set up a tense finish, which Morrison felt his side could, and should, have been avoided.

“We will come up with a plan that will hopefully cause a few more problems for Airbus,” said the Nomads boss.

“If we create as many chances as we did in the last game I will be delighted and hopefully we take a few more of them.

“You can set-up as many practice drills in training as you want to create goalscoring opportunities, but the key moment is in the game and then it’s about decision making.

“There are a lot of times when the amount of saves a goalkeeper is making does not reflect how good our possession is and the positions we’ve got ourselves in.

“The final pass to create the pass to score is the wrong decision, wrong weight of pass or wrong choice of cross and ultimately, when you are not taking those chances - unlike last year when we scored a significantly greater amount of goals - it can come back to haunt you.

“That showed on Boxing Day, they got half a chance when the game should have been so far out of sight.

“We got the result and if we can reproduce what we did up until the final moment, and then get that right, we will be okay.”

Captain George Horan remains suspended for Nomads, who are set to be without injured trio Callum Roberts, Nathan Woolfe and Ryan Wignall for the short trip.

“It’s that time of year where the games come thick and fast,” said Morrison.

“It’s a quick turnaround but we’ve managed to get a couple of training sessions in with the full-time players.

“It’s been a tough period and I’m seeing a lot of tired bodies in the camp at the moment.

“I was listening to the radio and managers who have squads of 25 players saying it’s not enough over this period of games.

“We are down to the bare bones and I’m asking these players to keep putting a shift in.

“They keep going, I keep demanding and I keep asking and sometimes I lose sight of just how hard it is at the moment with the size of the squad and when you have to keep calling on the same players week after week after week.”

Airbus have had their own dreadful run of luck with injuries and suspension in recent weeks, but Kristian Platt, pictured top right, and Jake Phillips return from bans with Curtis Strong, Ryan Edwards and Brady McGilloway facing late checks.

“We are starting to get players back,” said Airbus boss Steve O’Shaughnessy.

“I said at the start of the season that we’ve got a good strong squad but injury, illness and suspensions have killed us.

“Hopefully over the next few weeks there will be competition for places.”

Teenager Owen Payne earned praise for his performance after replacing the injured Strong at half-time on Boxing Day, fellow academy graduates George Peers and Oli Lanceley also featuring for Airbus.

“We haven’t taken any points, but I thought our attitude was good,” continued O’Shaughnessy. “We matched them, our work ethic was good and we battled to the end, where they were hanging on.

“It’s their experience. They manage the game better.

“If you look at our team and their team it’s completely different, we’ve had three academy lads play.”

Bala Town, like Nomads, secured top-six football when the league splits next month with a 2-1 victory at Caernarfon on Boxing Day.

Chris Venables, who scored either side of Jamie Breese’s leveller, is delighted to have wrapped up a top-six spot.

“It’s crucial,” said Venables of top-six football. “We know what we are trying to achieve this season and that’s putting in a better season than the last one.

“The top-six was key to us and it’s great to have done it as early as we have.”

Venables, in the running for the Golden Boot, was pleased to have played his part in victory at the Oval, and wants to follow that up with all three points tonight against Sean Eardley’s Canaries at Maes Tegid.

“We knew we had to put 100 per cent in and that it would take a massive effort to take away three points,” said Venables. “They are a good side, especially at home.

“But it’s difficult when you play a team twice so close together.”