JOHAN Elmander has been instructed to toughen up by his manager if he intends to hit the goal trail again.

The Sweden international has scored just five times this season since a club record £8.2million switch from Toulouse in the summer.

And while Gary Megson has no complaints about the striker’s workrate or commitment to the Wanderers cause, he believes Elmander needs to add more physicality to his game if he is to scare Premier League defences.

“He’s got to accept what the game is about over here and get after it a bit more,” the Whites boss said.

“He’s a good finisher and he’ll get more opportunities. We have to create more for him but he’s got to do a little bit more himself, not in terms of workrate, but in that this league is a little bit more physical than anywhere else he has played.”

Elmander is match fit again after more than a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and will be looking to return to form in front of goal this weekend against Fulham.

Despite the striker’s barren spell, Megson has been pleased with his contribution. But he grants that the longer the 27-year-old goes without a goal, the more open he leaves himself to criticism from elsewhere.

“Johan has got a decent record with us,” the manager argued. “When he plays, we play better. But he’s got to do more to help himself.

“But he has to accept that he will, like every other striker, be judged by the number of goals he gets.

“Goalkeepers are judged on how many goals they let in. If you concede too many, you are open to criticism.

“If you are a centre forward not scoring enough then it’s exactly the same.”

Megson is keen to see the responsibility for goals shared out more equally among his team.

“Kevin Davies has scored 10, Matty Taylor seven from wide left, but we need more people chipping in,” he added.

“We need more from the centre forward, and more from the middle of the park because we haven’t got any goals from there all season.”