The League One title winners are in need of attacking reinforcements following the departure of loanee talisman Declan McManus, now with Fleetwood, and striker Ross Caldwell, who was released last month.

Their departures have left experienced hitman Peter MacDonald as the established out-and-out first-team striker in the squad — and Duffy is looking to bolster his attacking ranks before the big kick-off next month.

The ultimately pivotal capture of McManus from Aberdeen did not come until late last summer and Duffy says he is prepared to wait it out again in a bid to make the right moves in the market.

He believes a whole host of variables will affect his transfer plans, with the main one being the need to wait for movement at other clubs which could free up signing targets, while finance is another consideration.

Duffy told the Tele: “Some clubs are just starting back after the break, some have fixed plans, some will be loaning players out and they have other people coming in on trial.

“There is a lot of work to be done at other clubs.

“We have to play a bit of a patient game, and everything also has to be at the right price.” While Duffy’s summer recruitment is not solely restricted to attacking players, he says this area of the squad is his current priority.

The Ton boss said: “We know we need to look at up front and we are looking for a goalscorer.

“Having someone who can add to the team in the final third is our main aim and we know we have to strengthen in that area.” While Ton may be a more attractive proposition to players having just been promoted, the flipside is that they now face stiff competition from their Championship rivals to attract players.

And Duffy says that when it comes to strikers, that competition is particularly intense — with managers often chasing the same players.

He said: “If you can go out and find a scorer it makes a real difference to the team.

“But by their nature these types of players are harder to find.

“We are all asking the same questions and chapping at the same doors.

“Even clubs with huge resources find that they [strikers] are few and far between.” But Duffy hopes that he will again be able to unearth a diamond in the rough, after Aberdeen loanee McManus — who’d arrived in Greenock after a largely unheralded loan spell at Alloa — finished Ton’s top scorer, helped them to the title, won the divisional player of the year award and broke through into the Scotland Under-21 set-up.

Duffy said: “Hopefully we can find a wee nugget like we did last year with Declan.

“You have to use your contacts and try and find someone who is maybe ‘under the radar’.”