DANNY Lennon has urged his Alloa players to be more ruthless in front of goal if they want to end their current run of six games without a win following the 1-0 defeat to Greenock Morton last weekend.

The Wasps' boss could only praise Morton star Ross Forbes for his spectacular free kick that proved to be the winner in Saturday's clash at Cappielow, but he was frustrated with how wasteful his men were with their own chances.

The result meant the Clackmannanshire outfit slumped to the foot of the SPFL Championship, but the gaffer says that is only a reminder of just how difficult the task facing his players will be to remain in the division for a club record fourth consecutive season.

Lennon told Advertiser sport: "We're disappointed with the result, but we know just how challenging and difficult this league can be. Once again we are left frustrated to put in a performance, especially in the first half, like we did then it’s difficult to again take nothing from the game.

The difference was the one piece of brilliance which won Greenock Morton the game, it was a fantastic free kick and one that was a worthy goal to win any game.

"I thought in the first half we did well and the points were there for the taking, but where we have to improve is in that final third. We are continually trying to look for that perfect pass or that extra touch to set us up instead of a shot, and more often than not at this minute when we do take that extra touch we lose out on that pass.

I’m a great believer if you don’t buy a raffle ticket you cannot win, so we need to take the most of our chances when they are presented. We know the challenge which we have signed up for at the start of the season, teams will defend deep and once again the first goal was going to prove so important.

It is even more disappointing to find ourselves now bottom of the league after other results, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint and we are getting a lot closer to teams with our stats improving every week."

Lennon leapt to the defence of his strikers after another frustrating afternoon in front of goal and he is urging his whole squad to look to start chipping in with goals from all over the pitch.

The lack of goals from the strikers has been a major talking point among the fans so far this season with Michael Chopra being the only attacking player to find the back of the net for his side this season, but while the 47-year-old admits some reinforcements are needed to aid the squad, 17-goal hitman of last year Liam Buchanan has been a difficult man to replace.

He said: "Michael Chopra had a great chance in the first half and he will be disappointed he didn’t put it away, but he scored some great goals at the end of last season to keep us in this Division and there is no reason why he cannot reach these levels again. I know he will. What we have to look at is the fact people might say we have not replaced Liam Buchanan, but where do you replace a player like that? Apart from Buchanan, who scored 17 goals last season, the next person to him only got five goals, but at this time we cannot rely on one person. We need everybody to be looking to get on the score sheet be it Andy McNeil or David Crawford. We cannot get ourselves down to low - yes, we are disappointed and we will wake up feeling the same as the fans because we are passionate about the game, but by Monday we will have that washing machine going within our belly and be ready to go again."

The former St Mirren boss believes the standard of performance set by certain players over the last few games is now the benchmark for the rest of the squad, and he fully believes he has the players to make history to overcome all the odds and avoid relegation once again.

Lennon added:"Every single game for us is crucial and we know what this football club have achieved in the past three seasons staying in this fantastic league and we have to try and emulate that or even go beyond it to achieve a fourth consecutive season in the Championship. I believe in every one of the boys in that dressing room. I look at Jason Marr’s performances in the last four or five weeks where he has been exceptional and these are the levels we should be reaching. Colin Hamilton is now settling in to the games in the way we knew he could. The most important thing is I can get the maximum out of these players. Our joy and our fulfilment will be at the end of this season whether we are playing in this league for a fourth consecutive season and that’s what will count in May not where we are just now."