Newark Town manager Luke Parsons says his side’s attacking formula goes against his defensive instincts as a player

Newark Town’s free-scoring ways are in stark contrast to boss Luke Parsons’ approach as a player.

The Blues’ 5-2 win over Wisbech Town in United Counties Premier Division North on Saturday made it 24 goals in their last six games in all competitions.

That’s some going for Parsons’ side, who were 2-1 League Cup winners against Clifton All Whites on Wednesday.

They don’t keep many clean sheets - just two in 11 league games - but there’s no shortage of entertainment.

“It makes it interesting,” said Parsons, who was a defender in his playing days.

“I suppose clean sheets win you leagues, it’s just the way we play, they’re going to be hard to come by.

“I was a centre-half, I was more of a cautious, organiser kind of a player. I’m probably the polar opposite as a manager, I want us to attack as much as possible.

“If you look at the top managers in football, a lot of them were attack-minded players.

“Mauricio Pochettino was a centre-half but most of them were midfielders or attackers and that’s how they see the game.

“When I played, that Pep Guardiola brand of football was probably only just starting here and now everyone wants to play a certain way but it’s having the bravery to continue with it when you leak goals.

“The way we attack, if you try and shore up a little bit defensively, you probably lose a bit on the attacking side.

“We have leaked goals, and we’re still leaking goals now, but it’s more like schoolboy stuff rather than being wide open.

“If you look at the goals we conceded on Saturday, it’s one long ball where the keeper and centre-half have both gone for it and they’ve tapped into an empty net, and the second is a penalty where our player has jumped and decided to punch the ball. That’s what I mean by schoolboy goals.

“If we were getting carved open and teams were passing it around us, or they’re running through a great big hole like Spurs did at Manchester United, we’ve got a few issues.

“We just need to try and stop these silly goals and make the right decisions at the back, which is what we’re doing in attack. If we do that, I think we’ll be a force.”

Newark are seventh, three points outside the play-off places, after beating Wisbech.

Luke Anderson opened the scoring at the end of the first half as the Blues extended their unbeaten run to 10 games in league and cup.

Matty Clarke and Harvey Grice added second-half penalties, with Ryan Rushen and Ryan Smith also on target in another big victory.

They’re off to Sleaford on Saturday (3pm) and Melton Town on Wednesday (7.45pm) for successive away games.

“I’m sure teams will look at us and say we know we’ll score against them because they don’t keep many clean sheets but it’s the other end that’s the problem for them,” said Parsons.

“Every team in this league is a good team, and we think it’s a good, competitive league.

“We knew when we came into it we’d be a bit of an unknown because we’d never played Step 5 before.

“We’ve got our philosophy, and we always had that belief that we’d shock a few teams, but the start to the season has been really good.

“If we win this weekend we could be in the play-offs spots but we’re not looking too far ahead. We’re taking each game as it comes and staying grounded.

“We’ve played a lot of the top teams already but anybody can beat anybody.”