NOTTINGHAM Forest's strikers can end their goal famine – through sheer hard work.
That was the positive message from Reds boss Billy Davies, who insists his front-men do not merit any criticism despite their failure to find the net.
Darius Henderson is the only striker to have scored in the 13 games since Davies returned for a second spell as manager, finding the net against Huddersfield and Hull.
Otherwise, despite producing some quality performances, Simon Cox has made 25 appearance for club and country without a goal.
Dexter Blackstock has made 18 appearances since he last scored, as Forest beat Leeds 4-2 in Sean O'Driscoll's final game in charge, on Boxing Day.
And even 12-goal top scorer Billy Sharp has played in ten games since his last goal, against Birmingham in February.
But Davies was buoyed by the attacking threat the Reds demonstrated against Barnsley last weekend, when they carved out a host of chances, only to be thwarted by the woodwork on four occasions and by a string of saves from keeper Luke Steele.
And has told his strikers they will still receive no negative feedback from him until the 'balance' of the side is addressed in the summer.
"Do you think Sharp was out of form on Saturday, when he hit the woodwork twice? You have to look at it sometimes and say that he is unlucky," said Davies.
"Cox has been the same with one or two chances, he has been unlucky.
"I do not criticise these guys. I know what we have got here, I know what we have got to do in the future. I know the balance in the side that we need to fix; the shape in the team we need to sort.
"At the moment, we've got what we've got and will continue to do what we can do with what we've got.
"I have told the strikers not to get downhearted, to keep working away, to keep working hard and to give us what they have got."
Forest have not scored at all in their last three games – and know they need to buck that trend if they are to secure the three points they need to keep their play-off hopes alive, when they travel to Millwall on Saturday. But Davies believes his strikers would flourish immediately – if they were given more ammunition by a couple of flying wingers.
"There is nothing better than a flying winger and a bit of width in your team – but we haven't got that," he said.
"We are trying to manufacture that a little bit, by putting people in wide areas like Lansbury, like Reid, like McGugan – we are trying to shove them into areas that they are not ideal to play in.
"But we have got what we have got.
"When I took over here and looked at the balance of the team and the dynamics of the group, I have asked them to work hard for me."
