MORTON manager Jim Duffy has revealed he is still on the lookout for a striker to bolster his attacking options.

Duffy has deployed defender Thomas O’Ware as a makeshift targetman since the beginning of the season due to Andy Barrowman’s injury-enforced absence.

Although Barrowman is nearing a first-team return, having played around 70 minutes of the development squad’s victory over Dumbarton on Monday, the Ton boss is keen to add competition for the role.

He told the Tele: “There are certain areas I think we’re a wee bit short in.

“We still need a striker in.

“Ideally, I’d like to get a natural, targetman striker.

“It’s something I think we’ve still got to look at. It’s an area of the pitch that, with Andy Barrowman being out for six weeks or so, we’ve used Thomas O’Ware.

“He’s done terrifically for us, but he’s a defender or somebody who can go and support the play.

“He’s not a natural striker, so it’s unfair on him.

“It’s not easy to just become a striker. You don’t become one in six weeks. That just doesn’t happen.

“We’ve been asking him to play a role he has had to learn as he goes.

“Therefore, we’d ideally like someone who naturally plays in that area.

“But we need someone with a wee bit of presence. We’ve got Declan [McManus], we’ve got Stefan [McCluskey], we’ve got Jon Scullion, we’ve got David McNeil.

“They’re all boys who can play in different types of roles, but we don’t have a focal point striker, if you want to call it that.

“If we can get somebody like that in, great.

“But there’s not too many of that ilk around that you can get in.

“We’ll keep looking — keep an eye on things and keep our ear to the ground — and there might be a possibility of something.

“Sometimes somebody comes up when you least expect it, so we’ll see if that happens.

“Other than that I think we’ll go with the squad we’ve got. You’ve got to balance the books.” The Ton boss had been close to signing Hermann Kabasele at the beginning of August but was forced to put the move on hold after the French-born forward suffered a knee injury.

When asked about a possibility of the Democratic Republic of Congo Under-21 cap returning to Scotland, he explained: “I’ve said all along that we need to know if the player is fit.

“Because he’s in France, I can’t do anything about it.

“He’s got to let me know if he’s fit and healthy and able to compete.

“If he is, we can assess the situation again.”