KIDDERMINSTER Harriers will turn their attention to other strike targets after their pursuit of former hitman Jamille Matt stalled.

Chief executive and caretaker manager Colin Gordon had targeted Matt, who joined Fleetwood from Harriers for £300,000 in January 2012, as the man to fix their lack of potency up front and boost their hopes of escaping relegation in the Vanarama National League.

The Reds, who go to Aldershot on Saturday (3pm kick-off), are 15 points from safety at the bottom with 19 matches remaining.

Matt was signed from Sutton Coldfield by Steve Burr and Gary Whild in 2011 but became a huge hit with the fans because of his goal-scoring exploits.

He scored 22 times in 62, despite an enforced break because of a wrangle of his nationality and work permit.

Once that issue was resolved, Matt returned with a bang and scored eight goals in nine matches to attract Fleetwood.

“Our main target is Jamille Matt but we’re not confident of that happening,” said Gordon.

“He’s tempted by a return to us but his girlfriend is pregnant and wants to stay in the North West. We’ve spoke to him and Fleetwood and haven't given up but we’ll see what happens.

“We’re also speaking to one or two other targets because a striker is our priority.”

The caretaker manager also hit back that Harriers had not spent enough on improving their forward line.

The club have had to pay off experienced forwards Craig Reid and Reece Styche, who are believed to have been the club’s highest paid players.

Styche left by mutual consent this week, while last summer’s marque signing Joe Clarke had his contract ended early following a disappointing spell at Aggborough and a loan spell at Brackley.

Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, another high-profile summer addition, has joined Nuneaton on loan for the rest of the season.

Striker Matthew Barnes-Homer failed to score or light up Aggborough during his disappointing loan spell from Aldershot and has returned to his parent club.

Gordon said: “If you look at the money we’ve spent on forwards we could have signed a player like Jon Parkin or James Constable.

“I know fans say all I am interested in is signing kids but that’s not true, we’ve brought in Keith Lowe and he’s got a huge desire to do well for the club that will rub off on everyone.

“It’s about recruitment and in the forward department that has not been right over a number of years.”

Gordon confirmed the club are still paying off several former players and members of management staff, including recently departed head coach Dave Hockaday.

Harriers have inserted a 'mitigation clause' in his deal, which means they will stop paying him once he gets a new job.

“We are going to put out a state-of-the-nation release before our accounts come out to explain where we are,” said Gordon.

“People keep asking why we haven’t got any cash when we’re above our target attendance of 1,100 for each match.

“But some of the season ticket money from last summer was used to pay off the debts from last season and it’s been like that for six or seven seasons.

“The budget of the squad we have now is less than £200,000, but overall the playing budget is three times that.

“We’ve managed to pull off miracles finding players like Ben Whitfield and Elton Ngwatala and they don’t cost a fraction of what we’ve been paying.”

Harriers could be in line for a double cash boost. They will receive £50,000 when Joe Lolley makes 20 league starts for Huddersfield Town.

The 23-year-old, who was sold in January 2013, has signed a new deal at the Terriers but Harriers are entitled to a percentage of his future sale price.

Kidderminster also have a ten per cent sell-on agreement for winger Marvin Johnson, who has been linked with a move to Bournemouth after impressing for SPL side Motherwell.

Meanwhile, Adam Dawson is ten days away from training after his hernia operation, while Jordan Tunnicliffe is back in training after a lengthy lay-off with a hamstring problem.

Harriers’ clashes at Cheltenham and Braintree have been rescheduled for February 16 and March 1.