NEWCASTLE UNITED are refusing to pay what they perceive to be over-the-odds for their main striker targets but Mathieu Debuchy is desperate to see attacking reinforcements with less than three weeks to go before the start of the new Premier League season.

The Magpies play their latest pre-season friendly at St Mirren tonight when Senegalese front-man Papiss Cisse is expected to figure for the first time this summer after agreeing to wear clothing bearing the logo of club sponsor Wonga.

But there are still no new faces in the Newcastle squad travelling north of the border, with director of football Joe Kinnear still struggling to engineer a breakthrough on the transfer front after weeks of trying.

Kinnear has withdrawn from negotiations with Lyon over the sale of French international Bafetimbi Gomis. An offer of £7m remains on the table, but the Ligue 1 club are determined to hold out for £10m despite seeing player enter the final year of his contract.

There also remains significant interest in both Darren Bent and Loic Remy, although Newcastle have also found the asking prices for both men too high given their own situations at Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers.

Bent's situation is further complicated by the fact that Fulham are seemingly willing to match his valuation and pay higher wages than he would receive at St James' Park.

Newcastle have been reliant on Shola Ameobi, who had hinted he could leave at the end of last season, in attack so far this pre-season and he scored his third goal in as many games in Sunday’s win at Blackpool.

French full-back Mathieu Debuchy is keen to see progress made to help a team which he feels has the foundations for a season of promise.

“I think we have a good team, a team that can win a lot of matches this season,” said Debuchy. “I think we will be stronger than we were last season, although we probably need a few more players just to make the squad as strong as it can possibly be.

“If we can have one more striker that will probably be better for the team. That will help us because we have quite a small squad at the minute. I think it is important that another striker comes in to help us all out.”

The slow progress on the transfer front has become a real source of frustration for manager Alan Pardew, who had outlined his hope that a new forward would have arrived before Newcastle returned from a pre-season tour of Portugal last week.

But Pardew is trying to keep the players he does have available focused on working their way up to speed before the Premier League kick-off at Manchester City on August 19 and take his squad up to Paisley today.

For the first time this summer the team coach is likely to have Hatem Ben Arfa, Fabricio Coloccini and Chiek Tiote on board as well as Cisse and Debuchy thinks performances so far have been satisfying.

The former Lille right-back said: “The mood in the group is very good. Everyone is happy to be back and is looking forward to the start of the season. It has been a good pre-season so far and everything is very positive.

“We have worked hard, but you have to do that to make sure you are ready for the season begins.

“It's very important that we are playing these matches now, for me and for the team. It is important to play 90 minutes at this stage of the pre-season because it helps get your condition right for when the real matches begin.

“It is very important for the preparation of the whole team. We need to be playing these matches to make sure we are right for when the Manchester City game comes around.”

Debuchy was one of six new arrivals in January and he thinks having a summer to work as a group should help Newcastle’s chances of success when the football begins for real next month.

“I wasn't here for pre-season last year and it is never easy to come in halfway through the season because you have missed all your preparation work,” he said. “This year, we are able to work as a group, all four or five of us defenders together. That is very important.

“It helps you to understand each other better and it helps you get a good formation. We have not conceded very many goals in the last few matches and that is good. I had to come in at a time when the defenders had already worked together, and that is never an easy thing to do. This year we are all here at the same time and that should help us.”