Aston Villa manager David O'Leary has admitted that he will look to sign a `proven' striker if he is given the money to bolster his shot-shy squad by chairman Doug Ellis.
Villa have spent more than £20million in recent seasons on Bosko Balaban, Juan Pablo Angel, Peter Crouch and Marcus Allback to try and improve their dismal scoring record.
But only Angel has had any sort of sustained success - he is the current leading scorer with eight goals - and Villa have managed just 11 goals in 15 Barclaycard Premiership games this season. O'Leary has been linked with several players, including Cardiff's Robert Earnshaw who has scored 22 goals this season.
O'Leary said: "People talk about players like Robert Earnshaw and Nathan Ellington and I don't think I know enough about them to say whether they'll make it or not. But we've spent lots of money on strikers in recent years. If I get some money, I've got to look to buy somebody who has something proven about him.
"I'd be able to take a chance if I had two or three absolutely quality in-form strikers. Then I'd be able to buy for the future - but I don't have them."
Villa are currently in the middle of a short break in Dublin before returning on Thursday to prepare for Sunday's home clash with fellow strugglers Wolves. The players were forced to watch a video nasty of Saturday's woeful performance against Manchester United before flying out to Ireland.