Aston Villa manager David O'Leary will abandon the search to bolster his threadbare strikeforce until the summer if he fails to win the race for Southampton's Jame Beattie next month.
Beattie has to decide whether to move to either Villa or Everton after both clubs lodged £6million bids with the Saints.
O'Leary had a similar offer turned down last summer for the player who is understood to be keen to make the move to Villa despite Everton offering the lure of a bigger financial package and possible European football.
But O'Leary, whose side take on Blackburn tomorrow, will wait until the close
season to strengthen up front if Beattie opts to move to Goodison Park.
That will place a massive workload on Juan Pablo Angel and Carlton Cole for a
sizeable chunk of the remainder of the season as Darius Vassell is still many
weeks away from a return after his broken foot.
O'Leary said: "I'd kill for a goal from anywhere. The strikers would kill for
a goal because it would boost their confidence.
"We are playing lovely stuff. Things will turn for us. Maybe we will play poorly and win. We've got to keep it going and the players are not down.
"If you were losing and playing poorly, there would be a lack of confidence
but there is still a great bubbly confidence over the way we've performed in the
last three games - but we've got to turn that into wins and goals."
With one of the smallest squads in the Premiership, it is the tiredness factor, and no leeway to rotate players, that is taking its toll on Villa.
