TWENTY goals will be the minimum target that Conor McAleny is aiming for, according to head coach Keith Curle.

The frontman ended an 11-game goal drought in emphatic fashion on Easter Monday, scoring twice to help fire Latics to their biggest win of the season.

The brace took him to 18 for the campaign and Curle fully expects him to exceed the coveted 20-goal mark in the remaining six games.

“Conor’s a goal threat and on Monday I thought he was clinical,” said the Latics head coach.

“The two goals he scored show the threat that he’s got as an attacking player, good awareness, good delivery of a pass into a good area. The first finish was clinical, excellent, and the second one shows his willingness to work in behind, getting on to a long ball from Clarkey (Harry Clarke) and then a composed finish.

“He’s got 18 goals this season, now his target will be to get minimum 20 goals.

“Any player who gets 20 goals in the lower half of the division, individually he’s done his job.”

Such a return, especially in the lower half of the League Two table, will make McAleny hot property, particularly as he is out of contract this summer.

But Curle, whose own Latics future has yet to be finalised, expects there will be discussions between the club and the player about extending his time at Boundary Park.

“That’s a discussion between Conor and the football club that no doubt will take place,” said the Latics chief. “There are a few things that need to be put in place first of all, not just for the football club but also for Conor as well.”

For now, Curle is keen to make the most of McAleny getting the spring back in his step.

“I think he’s had it in the last four or five games,” he said.

“Probably the Stevenage game was the only game he didn’t have a clear-cut opportunity to score, but in other games he’s had opportunities with shots on target.

“Conor will get his shots off wherever he operates on the pitch, he will try to work the ball to get a shot off, which is what you want.

“He is hungry to score goals.”

And as a collective, Curle felt that there had been signs in recent weeks that the 4-1 scoreline against Crawley had been coming.

“The individual and collective performances have shown a good understanding of what we’re trying to get the players to do. It’s always better when you get the win,” he said. “At this stage of the season some people might say it’s not about performances, it’s about results, but the building blocks need to be in place, the performances individually need to be right. People need to be hitting the individual targets and understanding the system and results will come.

“It’s nice to score goals and get the reward for some of the build-up play. That clinical edge is what we haven’t had.”