Scott Brown says he will head for the January sales to help Ayr keep pace in the Championship title race.
United drew a blank despite a dominant display against Morton this afternoon as they missed the chance to move second in the table.
Victory would have seen Ayr leapfrog Livingston and edge within five points of Falkirk at the summit. But a host of missed opportunities came back to bite on a frustrating day at Somerset.
Brown said: “We had 15 shots on goal but only three on target – that’s the disappointment. We were by far the better team and the only one who looked like they were going to score.
“It would have been a fantastic couple of weeks for us after the wins over Falkirk and Livingston but these things happen. We now have to bounce back and go again – but that means scoring a goal.
“To do that we’ll need to be better in the final third. Defensively we locked them out and looked really solid again, so that was pleasing but you’d just like to see boys go and take responsibility in front of goal.”
Brown added: “We’ll definitely try and sign a striker in January. I think it’s clear that’s what has been missing. We’ve missed Anton (Dowds) through injury and we need someone to come in and help be that goalscorer.”
Brown also revealed he was forced to hook full back Nick McAllister at half time after he’d picked up a yellow card from rookie ref Duncan Nicholson.
The boss said: “The referee made the decision for us – he lost the game a little bit by throwing yellow cards around. It was his third game in the Championship and he had the advisor up in the stand watching him so he was doing everything by the book. That’s where, sometimes, refs just need to relax a bit.”
Brown had stuck with the same side which won at Livingston last week and Ayr should have been in front inside two minutes but Connor McLennan blazed over from close range.
Filip Stuparevic should have done better than shoot straight at Harry Stone from 12 yards as Morton responded before the game centred around the whistle of Nicholson for the rest of the first half.
He dished out a flurry of yellow cards, including one to McAllister, which led to Brown replacing his full back with Mark McKenzie at the interval.
But it was all Ayr after the break and they missed a number of good chances to take the points.
Scott McMann headed just over from a Jay Henderson corner before McLennan thumped a glorious chance over the top from 12 yards.
Henderson missed another good opening at the backpost after latching on to a McMann cross before Marco Rus headed straight at Ryan Mullen at the death as Morton held on for a point.
Visiting boss Dougie Imrie said: “It’s always a tough game against Ayr – they have a very good squad with good players all over the pitch. We defended admirably in the second half.”