Coventry City striker Noel Whelan has urged manager Gordon Strachan to keep faith with him and strike partner Darren Huckerby, but admitted that they must start scoring more goals if the club are to shake off their 'strugglers' tag.

The 24-year-old attacker had one of his most successful campaigns last season but only managed to find the net 12 times, a figure he accepts is not enough in the Premiership.

He said:

"I think I have got more to my game than just scoring goals and I believe that playing up front is my rightful position.

"I don’t think I am just a striker or a big man to hit, I believe I can do more around other areas of the pitch than most forwards in the Premier League.

"Now what I have to do is notch up a few more goals next season and I will be very happy with my game.

"Myself and Darren have still got a lot to learn and a lot to improve on but I think that if we can start scoring regularly then we will be able to offer the complete package as a partnership.

"Good partnerships are always the same though, they only come with experience of several seasons playing together."

The former Leeds ace, who joined City for £2 million, believes that while losing England International Dion Dublin in the midst of last season was difficult – the team may have benefited.

He said:

"Dion was a very good player and for two seasons when he came here he was causing a lot of problems, but at the beginning of this season I think teams knew how to handle it.

"Basically, Dion was the main man to hit as a target and the ball was going to his feet, back to Darren and he was running in behind defences.

"It does not take that long for players to know what to expect when that happens and having me and Darren up front may have given them a bit more to think about."