Focus on the next goal and avoid being dragged down by disappointment is the advice of former Norwich City striker Simeon Jackson for Josh Sargent after his open-goal error against Brighton.
The former Canada international, 34, is playing for National League South side Chelmsford City and has four goals in 11 games so far this season.
Jackson wrote his name into Canaries folklore with a burst of nine goals in seven matches at the end of 2010-11, scoring the famous header at Portsmouth which sealed Championship promotion for Paul Lambert’s team.
What many forget however is that Jackson went 20 games without a goal before moving into the spotlight, sparked by a hat-trick during a 6-0 thrashing of Scunthorpe at Carrow Road.
“That’s why strikers get paid the big bucks, because you have to get yourself in that place mentally where you are not going to be affected by missing,” said Jackson.
“You try to forget about it as soon as you can, you learn from it and just look forward to the next one.
“Sometimes you might think things aren’t going so well and you miss a chance but I think from Josh’s point of view, he’s been playing well, so you want that consistency.
“Keep putting yourself in the right positions and you will score. Just keep going. Sometimes it is horrible when you’re on a bad run but you score again and all of a sudden that’s forgotten.”
Sargent will undoubtedly have felt disappointment after Saturday’s goalless draw with Brighton, having wasted a great chance to put the ball into an empty net and taken a poor touch when later played through on goal by Teemu Pukki.
However, the 21-year-old had otherwise put in his best league performance since being signed from Werder Bremen in August and has four goals in 10 matches this season – two for Bremen in the German second tier and a brace for City during they 6-0 League Cup thumping of Bournemouth.
Pukki also fired wide and wasted two good openings but the Finland talisman has scored both of City’s two league goals in eight matches so far and also returned from the international break with confidence boosted by three goals to become his nation’s all-time top scorer.
On the challenge facing USA international Sargent, Jackson continued: “It’s one of those that everyone looks at it as you haven’t scored in however many games and that’s what makes it even more highlighted.
“But as a striker, it’s all about getting into good positions and keep putting yourself into those opportunities to have those chances.
“From what I’ve seen of him, he’s young but he’s got good movement and with that you will end up getting yourself in good goal-scoring positions – and you’ve just got to back yourself to score them.
“The easy ones are sometimes the hardest to score. He might have misread the green, so to speak, and didn’t really have that power behind it.
“That sometimes comes when you’re in a dip as a team.”
Jackson scored 21 goals in 86 games for the Canaries between 2010 and 2013 and helped to achieve mid-table safety for two seasons after promotion, scoring four goals in 35 matches in the Premier League, 15 of which were starts.
Lambert’s squad had scored 10 goals in their opening eight games of 2011-12, banking eight points as their EFL success contributed to a strong start.
The former Gillingham forward says that squad were relative unknowns, as opposed to Daniel Farke guiding the current Canaries straight back to the Premier League.
“I think it was momentum and for this team it is a bit different because they’re the new boys but they’re not the new boys,” Jackson added.
“Everyone is going to be set up well and know what Norwich is about so it’s a different expectation this time.
“Sometimes when you have that momentum, whether it’s promotion or run of form, sometimes you can just kick on and keep pushing.
“In that team we just had this bravery, I guess. We had that mentality of if you score two, we’ll score three. That’s a good mentality to have.
“But I think things will come, obviously things are a bit sticky at the moment but just keep believing and putting the work in and hopefully it will turn around.”
Next up is a trip to Champions League winners Chelsea on Saturday. The class of 2011-12 may have finished 12th but they also endured heavy losses home (6-1) and away (5-0) to Manchester City, as well as defeats at Chelsea (3-1) and Manchester United (2-0).
They showed their spirit to fight back for draws at Liverpool and Arsenal though, as well as to win 2-1 at Tottenham.
“They were all great experiences,” Jackson recalls. “The mentality of approaching those games is a bit different. You kind of see them as a free hit sometimes because there’s not much expected from those games.
“But you do have to go into it knowing that anything can happen on the day and that you could be the one to create an upset and get something.
“But saying that, playing against a top side like that, everything has to be perfect on the day. How you set up, what you’re looking to do, just everything has to go your way on the day.
“But there’s no reason why it can’t. You just have to prepare right, go out there and give it your best.”
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