A new striker will be David Hodgson's No 1 priority during the summer after admitting Darlington's play-off hopes have been scuppered by the absence of an out-and-out goalscorer, writes Lee Hall.

Andy Cooke, Jemal Johnson and Taiwo Atieno will return to Bradford City, Blackburn Rovers and Walsall respectively when their loan deals expire next month. And, with Akpo Sodje and Guy Bates the only other forwards in his squad, Hodgson would like to add two new faces to his front-line.

Sodje is seen by Hodgson as a squad player, while Bates has yet to make an impact in the side.

Six of the ten strikers used by Hodgson this season have appeared since leading scorer Guy Ndumbu-Nsungu departed for Cardiff in January.

And, Hodgson admits he has yet to find an able replacement for the Congolese forward.

"We've got no goalscorers," said Hodgson. "That has been the script since January when Guy left."

Saturday's 3-2 defeat to struggling Bury leaves Quakers three points outside the play-off zone with two games remaining.

But, the game may have had a better outcome had Quakers made the most of their chances in front of goal.

Sodje wasted three good opportunities, before claiming his eighth goal of the season to put Quakers 2-1 up.

"There's nobody in there with the killer instinct to score," moaned Hodgson. "I'm watching things take place and there are no individuals with the desire to try and score.

"How can you score when you've got balls going into the box and individuals standing out wide or on the edge of the box? I tell you what it is. It's a fear to be successful and get in there and score goals."

After an exhaustive search last summer, Hodgson finally unearthed Ndumbu-Nsungu.

And, with a number of trialists expected to arrive in July, when Quakers resume pre-season training, Hodgson will hope to find a solution to his goalscoring problems.

"That's something we will need to look at nearer the time, but it's obvious what we need and that's somebody to stick the ball in the back of the net," said Hodgson.

Read more about the Quakers here.