Saturday's disappointing defeat to bottom-placed Hartlepool means our (already slim) hopes of stealing a play-off place look to be slipping away - and if we do miss out, it seems it will be our failure to properly replace Matt Tubbs that is at fault.

It was never going to be an easy task: 15 goals in half a season is an exceptional return, and our budget hardly allows for the signing of a proven striker.

All four of our current strikers bring something to the table, but none of them look capable of really rivalling Tubbs in front of goal.

Loanee Craig Tanner looks a talented player, but seems to be more of a creator than a finisher.

Every goal Akinfenwa has scored this season has been from a cross - he's hardly the ideal partner for a player like Tanner, who's more interested in playing passing football than in chasing flick-ons.

Conversely, Azeez is an almost perfect partner for Bayo, but his finishing just isn't good enough for a side hoping to finish in the top seven.

Ardley slams lacklustre stars after Hartlepool disappointment

Connolly has no such problem with finishing, but lacks the pace and energy necessary to be in the right place at the right time - a real strength of Tubbs.

So that means the burden of goalscoring falls on the sizeable shoulders of Akinfenwa. And because he hasn't scored in the past five games, we've finished without a goal in four of those five.

And the fact that he hasn't scored away from home since October means our away form has been really dire; since Tubbs left, we've picked up just three points from a possible 18 on the road, culminating in Saturday's dismal showing.

Wandsworth Times:

Struggling on the road: The Beast has not scored on his travels since October

That's not to blame our goalscoring troubles on Akinfenwa; we never expected him to be a 20-goal striker, and given how much he offers to the side elsewhere, his 13 goals have been a very welcome bonus.

It does mean, however, that we need to rethink our attacking strategy. Our strength is clearly in playing with width, as we have some excellent crossers of the ball - Francomb, Rigg, and Kennedy, to name a few.

But Bayo's dry spell, combined with Francomb's injury, means our stubborn adherence to this tactic is costing us points.

There's no need for some kind of tactical overhaul, but a bit more flexibility would be nice. Perhaps when pumping crosses into the box isn't working, we should consider playing Tanner a bit deeper, with Azeez or Connolly in front of him?

The coaching staff will obviously have identified these problems: they're not hard to see. Finding a solution, however, will be less straightforward.

Francomb's return to fitness will undoubtedly give us a boost, but we really need to be more willing to adapt to the circumstances of the game.