Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson says his squad need a reality check after warning his strikers to become more clinical or face the axe.

Robinson watched his side go eight games without victory against Rangers on Tuesday after a bright start to the campaign.

With top scorer Louis Moult sidelined through injury and departing the club next month, Robinson gave Alex Fisher and Craig Tanner the nod up front at Ibrox.

After the Steelmen failed to find the back of the net in the 2-0 Ibrox defeat, Robinson laid out his plan to sign two new strikers in the January window.

He said: "We needed other players to step up and they haven't done that.

"I'm now looking for two players in January and we have targets that we are speaking to."

While managers often prefer to keep criticism of their squad behind closed doors, Robinson hopes his strikers use the public damning as motivation when they host Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton on Saturday.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: "As a player, I always wanted managers to be honest with me. Never have I gone out and blamed an individual, that's not how we work.

"We win as a team and lose as a team but we have to have a dose of reality sometimes. If you take your chances and cut out individual errors then you'll win a lot more games than you lose.

"There has to be a reaction. If we put people in positions - and this sounds tough - they have to score goals."

He added: "We've created lots and lots of chances so people have to start taking them. The reality is that what happens outside the two boxes is irrelevant.

"How you defend in one box and whether you take your chances in the other is what wins and loses you games. So yeah, the players need to step up to the plate.

"There's no point me putting it any other way. We are looking to do stuff in the January transfer window and it just depends how much.

"We do recognise that we don't have Louis any more and when people are given the chance in the number one [striker] spot they have to take it."