NEIL Lennon hopes his highly-publicised search for a striker can ignite a fire in the front men he already owns.

Though all eyes have been on who walks through the doors of the Macron on loan this week, the likes of Gary Madine and Stephen Dobbie have been attempting to work their way back into form on the training ground.

Goals have been a major problem for the Whites, who have managed just four in nine competitive outings, their worst return at this stage of the season in the club’s history.

But Lennon is praying the threat of a new arrival to have a positive impact on the players who have laboured so far this term.

“It should freshen things up and you hope the ones already here take up the challenge of someone coming in,” he said.

“Goals have been a concern, that’s an obvious statement to make, but we can’t keep hanging on in games and hoping the defence doesn’t get breached.

“We’ve got to start putting a few chances away because making them hasn’t really been a problem for us.

“But we’ve got Max Clayton back in the mix now, which will be a big boost for us, because having those different options means we can alternate how we go about things against Brighton.”

Madine has taken the brunt of criticism, and has now gone more than 19 hours on the pitch for Bolton and Blackpool since finding the back of the net.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man looked revived in the summer and matched some impressive performances with goals during pre-season – but since kicking off against Derby County and hitting the woodwork twice, it has been a very different story.

“He is lacking bit of confidence because goals haven’t come,” Lennon admitted. “He has worked hard in training and like all strikers you are judged on goals.

“In the main we have been happy with his level of performance though it has just started to dip in the last couple of games.

“You are hoping he finds that form again.”

Wanderers have been given a bit of good news on the injury front, with Emile Heskey expected back in training next week.

Lennon revealed that it had been the former England striker’s hamstring, and not calf as first thought, that prompted his withdrawal at Huddersfield Town last weekend after only 10 minutes.

But the veteran – who even stands an outside chance of making the bench tomorrow – is not expected to miss a month of football, as was first feared.

“It looks like a bit of scar tissue, so the problem isn’t as bad as we first thought.

“It isn’t a serious problem so he may be involved at the weekend, if not he’ll be training next week.

“It’s maybe an old hamstring injury – something that was just providing a bit of agitation rather than a new one.

“We missed him last week. He’d been looking good and was ready to start a game so it was a blow to us to lose him so early in a game.”