NEWPORT County boss Jimmy Dack admits his strikers are under pressure to finally find some form, writes Michael Pearlman.

The Exiles have drawn a blank in three successive home clashes and only loanee Miles Storey has scored in 2015 out of all County’s forwards.

And with striker Aaron O’Connor now joined on the sidelines by Rene Howe, Dack admits the focus is shifting to County’s strikers with goals very much the order of business.

“We need to work hard and the breaks will come,” Dack told the Argus. “We do a lot of finishing and crossing in training, but we need a little bit more belief in ourselves.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the forward line, but aside from Miles Storey who is on loan, they haven’t scored this year.

“A lot of our goals come from midfield and the strikers need to get up and running.

“They work hard, but at the minute we aren’t getting that luck and there is an element of that, but we lack a little quality as well, though it isn’t and won’t be for a want of trying. We’ve got to believe in them and now they are struggling for confidence.

“It sometimes just happens this way and they’ve just got to keep working hard.

“We are missing Aaron O’Connor, he’s having a stop and start season and we need to get him back out on the pitch.”

Dack is hopeful O’Connor can return sooner rather than later.

“We are hoping Aaron might start training next week and we can get him back involved with the games after that. We all know that Aaron fit and firing is a proven goalscorer in League Two,” he said.

“The strikers are under the microscope but we all are, we are all out of contract at the end of the season and it is a question of all of us working hard and continuing to believe in what we are doing.”

Dack will be patient with both O’Connor and Howe.

“Rene has picked up a slight injury so we are without him as well on Saturday. It doesn’t get any easier. But when your backs are against the wall you’ve got to come out fighting and that’s what we will try and do,” he said.

“Aaron was getting back to form before his suspension, he was looking like the player we all know he can be, but the sending off has derailed his season, there is no doubt about that.

“We need a fit Aaron O’Connor, we need all our strikers fit, but Aaron gives us just that bit extra.

“He’s still having a few problems with his groin, he’s not comfortable with it and is doing his strengthening work.

“He needs to be fully fit to play. Long gone are the days when players played injured. The modern day player needs to be at 100% sharpness.

“It’s better for me to be patient and get him back for a group of games rather than rushing him back when he’s not firing on all cylinders.”

However, Dack is boosted by the returning Robbie Willmott for Saturday’s clash with Stevenage.

“Robbie has been training this week and he’ll be in contention for Saturday and that gives us a boost,” he said.

“Robbie brings that little bit of guile in the final third and I think he has that bit of magic that some don’t. We’ve missed Robbie massively. We all know what a big player he is, up to his injury he was probably our best player and we’ve missed him.”