KEVIN Kelbie says Morton’s forwards could be just one successful strike away from becoming goal-machines - and has urged them to prove it against Partick today.

Ton have been frustrated by an inability to translate possession into goals so far this season, and are the only team in the three divisions of the SFL not to have yet found the net.

But Kelbie says most strikers feed off confidence - and converting a chance against Partick could trigger them to score many more.

He told the Tele: “I’m sure once the boys get a wee sniff and score their first goal that will be a starting point to move on and score more.

“I think a lot of strikers work off confidence, but it’s a case of once you score one you get a wee bit of confidence and drive.

“I think the team have played quite well and once we’re creating more chances the strikers will score a lot of goals.” Kelbie acknowledged the quality of supply could be improved, but insisted blame for the lack of goals still lies with the strikers.

He said: “The balls into the box haven’t been the best but we should still be creating from other areas of the park as well.

“The strikers can’t just sit back and say it’s someone else’s fault, it’s our fault as well.

“Our main concern is that the strikers start scoring first before we start saying midfielders need to start scoring.

“If you’re blaming midfielders but not scoring then that argument doesn’t really stand up. We’ve got to take it on our shoulders.” Kelbie is confident his fellow strikers will do just that, and admits he is looking for a positive result at Cappielow today.

He added: “I think our strikers are really good, Kean and Weatherson are great players and Graham is as well.

“We need to keep on our toes as if we’re not scoring goals we can see ourselves out the team.

“Hopefully we can get a win over Partick as it will be a massive weight off our shoulders if we can get the three points.”