MORTON manager Jim Duffy has identified the striking department as his priority position as he hunts for replacements for last season’s forwards.

Veteran hitman Peter MacDonald was released at the end of campaign, while top scorer Denny Johnstone and fellow loanees Declan McManus and Alex Samuel returned to their parent clubs.

In the wide areas, Stefan McCluskey rejected a new contract, Bobby Barr joined Raith Rovers after agreeing a pre-contract, and Paul McMullan went back to Celtic following the end of his loan stint.

As revealed in the Tele, the Ton boss lost out to Wrexham in the battle for the signature of 16-goal Livingston marksman Jordan White.

He is currently running the rule over unattached Northern Irish Under-21 forward Jamie McDonagh and an unnamed Dutch winger.

But as it stands Thomas Orr, Jon Scullion and new signing Gary Oliver are the only frontmen on the club’s books, and Duffy says forwards are top of his list when it comes to new recruits.

He told the Tele: “The front area is the priority because we have to get that side sorted before we can look elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t get that sorted and use the budget in other areas then if good players become available then we’ve left ourselves short.

“That’s not to say that if a player comes up who we feel could be really influential or really important for us we wouldn’t sign.

“Of course we could go down that route — but that’s not the priority. 

“At this moment in time the priority is players in the forward area.

“And we have to get the balance right because it will be a completely different set of players in the top end of the pitch.

“I mean, last year we had Bobby [Barr], we had Stef [McCluskey], and more often than not it was Denny [Johnstone] and Declan [McManus] through the middle but we had Alex Samuel as well.

“None of those players are there, so we’re going to have to work really hard with whoever we bring in, and Gary [Oliver] is the first player we’ve brought in in that area.

“I couldn’t say where he’ll play, whether he’ll play as a centre-forward, a number 10 or in the wide areas, because we don’t have anybody else in yet.”

The problem, Duffy says, is that it is the toughest area to unearth quality players due to scarcity of goalscorers combined with the high demand for their services.

He explained: “It’s always the most difficult area, because anybody who scores goals or anybody is a threat, teams are not in a hurry to let them go anywhere.

“That’s even the case if it’s just as part of their squad or coming off the bench — people talk about impact players.

“There’s no great rush to allow anyone who can be an attacking asset — even in the last 10 or 15 minutes — leave.

“The clubs that have got big squads are less keen to let those type of players go, because they know they can win them a game.

“So it always takes a bit more time to get these types of players on board but we’ve managed to do it the last couple of years and we’ll just keep looking.

“As I’ve said before, we’ve already made several inquiries and had several discussions with various managers, both in Scotland and in England, but the English teams haven’t started back yet.

“Some won’t even start back until July, so that could be a number of weeks down the line if anything happens there.”

Closer to home, Duffy and assistant Craig McPherson were interested spectators at the recent PFA Scotland exit trials staged at Clyde’s Broadwood Stadium.

Although there were at least three players the Ton management duo felt were of a sufficient standard to sign, they were not in the positions required.

He said: “Craig and I went to that on Saturday. We trained in the afternoon and went through to the showcase straight after it.

“On another day I could have quite comfortably signed a couple of players from Saturday, but the players I felt stood out weren’t in the areas of the pitch I’m specifically looking for.

“But it’s always a good exercise to go and see these games. Sometimes you see someone you think is worth pursuing. It doesn’t always work out for you but it doesn’t do any harm to go and look.

“And I always compliments the players who play in them, because it would be easy to feel sorry for yourself if you’re without a club. So all credit to them for putting themselves out there and hopefully the boys involved will get the move they are looking for.”