New striker badly needed at Aston Villa

Villa have been linked with Ghanaian Anthony Annan, but up front a lack of support for Darren Bent still remains

Paul Lambert has been busy in the transfer market since taking over at Villa Park.

A total of £8.7 million has been spent so far on acquiring Ron Vlaar, Matt Lowton and Karim El-Ahmadi.

Brett Holman has also been brought in on a free transfer, a deal agreed prior to Lambert's arrival, but the new manager's work is far from done just yet.

With a fortnight remaining until the Premier League season begins, and under a month to go until the transfer window closes, a lingering question which haunted the club last season remains.

What happens if Darren Bent gets injured?

Gabby Agbonlahor is out until September with a knee injury, but has never been the kind of prolific goalscorer Villa require him to be, blowing hot and cold with frustrating regularity.

Andreas Weimann is too young to be expected to fill a regular void. Chip in here and there yes, but not the answer just yet.

Holman of course can fill a link between midfield and attack and boost the side's creative options. Lambert will also hope to get the best out of Charles N'Zogbia on the wing, and let's face it he can't do worse than McLeish.

Up front in Darren Bent, Villa have a man who can be the difference between them finishing in the top half and pushing for a European spot, and finishing in the bottom half of the table.

And that is too much to rely on just one man who missed three months at the end of last season with an Achilles injury.

We saw at the end of last season how the club plummeted without Bent's goals, and this is not a scenario the club can risk happening again.

A proven striker must be brought in, who can play second fiddle to Bent yet also be a big threat. Pavel Pogrebnyak, who signed for Reading would have been ideal.

Lambert has proved himself resourceful through his scouring network, assessing targets across Europe in his pursuit of players so far.

Annan would be another solid addition in midfield, especially given doubts over the involvement of both Fabian Delph and Jean Makoun.

So the manager needs to work his magic up front and bring in another goalscorer, because failure not to could prove a costly oversight, when he appears to have done everything else right.

Who do you want to see up front at Villa?

Dan Coombs

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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.

As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.

He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.