SAINTS boss Stuart Gray is set to ask chairman Rupert Lowe to loosen the purse strings to solve Saints scoring problems.

After Saints drew their third successive blank at Spurs yesterday, Gray described his side's shortcomings in front of goal as: "a monkey on our back which we have to get rid of" and said: "I'll be sitting down with the chairman at the earliest opportunity this week and we'll see where we go."

Gray admitted Saints blankety-blank in three Premiership games is: "beginning to get a bit of a worry" but the Saints boss would not be pinned down to a deadline to bring in a marksman.

He added: "I'd just like to get somebody in as soon as possible.

"We're out there, putting in the miles, both on the continent and in this country.

"We've identified several targets, and it's a matter of defining which ones we want to pursue closer."

Gray admitted one of his targets is Swedish striker Marcus Allback.

The Swede, who has also attracted the likes of Liverpool and Charlton, plays his club football in Holland for Heerenven and has scored five goals in six internationals alongside Henrik Larsson.

Gray has been frustrated by his team's lack of goals, explaining: "I've been encouraged with our displays and we opened Spurs up several times.

"But our shortfall is in front of goal and we need to score goals to take a bit of pressure off the players at the back.

"But scoring goals is the hardest part of the game - that's why people like Michael Owen and Andy Cole are special players."

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