Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown is eager to bring in another attacker to reignite the Blue Toon’s promotion bid.
A 1-0 defeat to Spartans at Balmoor saw the Blue Toon suffer a third straight loss in League Two and they now trail runaway leaders Stenhousemuir by 14 points.
Rory McAllister’s absence through suspension blunted Peterhead’s threat against the Edinburgh side and their forward options were hampered further following an injury sustained by substitute Conor O’Keefe in the half-time warm-up.
On-loan Aberdeen forward Aaron Reid returned to his parent club last week and Brown and joint-boss Ryan Strachan have so far been unsuccessful in their attempts to freshen up the squad.
However Brown is hopeful of a new addition ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Dumbarton.
Brown said: “It has been frustrating so far.
“We spoke to five players recently and it has just not happened.
“It has just not got over the line at the final hurdle but we are hopeful.
“We are trying our best for Tuesday. We were on the phone until 10 o’clock on Friday night trying to get things sorted.
“But we do need help.
“We are going through a sticky patch although we have time to turn it around and really go again.
“But you can only say that for so long and we do need to show more on the pitch especially in the final third.”
Kieran Shanks was Peterhead’s only forward option against Spartans, who won for the third time at Balmoor this season in all competitions to leapfrog the Blue Toon into second spot.
Andy McCarthy had the home team’s best opportunity in the first half but Blair Carswell, who managed a fourth clean sheet in a row, was equal to his effort.
Carswell then saved Strachan’s header from Joe McKee’s corner early in the second period but his most notable stop came in the 58th minute.
Robert Ward jinked his way to the byline and crossed for Shanks, whose header was destined for the far corner until Carswell touched the ball behind for a corner.
Spartans rarely troubled Stuart McKenzie but Blair Henderson’s 78th minute winner was the contest’s touch of class.
James Craigen picked out Henderson with a neat pass and the striker did the rest, sending Jason Brown to the floor by feinting to shoot and then slotting past McKenzie from 10 yards.
After recent setbacks against Forfar and Elgin, co-manager Brown says his men must quickly get back on track to stay in contention of an immediate return to Scotland’s third tier.
Brown said: “We were flying at the start of the season, riding on the crest of a wave and winning game after game.
“We were also a hard team to beat and if we were not winning games, we were not losing either.
“It is early days for this group together and for myself, Ryan and Jamie (McNee first-team coach) in that position
“I think there were always going to be ups and downs and testing times and at the moment we are in a battle for the play-offs.”
Brown added: “Spartans have just beaten us for the third time out there, which is very disappointing and Dumbarton, although they got beat as well, will come up here on Tuesday and try to go above us in the league.
“We have got a fight on our hands but we knew it was not going to be easy.”