Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate has called on his strikers to "step up to the mark" ahead of Monday night's Sky Bet Championship clash with Nottingham Forest.
While Forest are fourth in the table and pushing for promotion, Boro have slipped into the relegation zone following Saturday's matches.
Woodgate's men are on a poor run of form and have failed to find the net in their past three outings.
Ashley Fletcher is Boro's top scorer with 10 goals in all competitions but is an injury doubt for the Forest game at the Riverside Stadium after being forced off with a hamstring problem in the midweek defeat to Leeds United.
Woodgate has urged former Forest hitman Britt Assombalonga and loan signing Lukas Nmecha to help take some of the burden off Fletcher.
Talking about Fletcher, Woodgate told the Hartlepool Mail: "If you look at his career he hasn’t scored goals constantly, week in week out.
"He has moments when he scores and moments when he doesn’t score.
"I need Britt to step up to the mark, I need Lukas to step up to the mark to score goals.
"I still believe in my forwards."
Assombalonga has scored six goals in 27 appearances for Boro this season.
He has not netted since his brace in a 2-2 at Queens Park Rangers on November 9, though did have a spell out with an ankle injury.
