SAM Allardyce broke his silence today and revealed the depth of his disappointment at missing out on England striker, Andrew Johnson.

The Wanderers boss is no less determined than he was a week ago to recruit a proven striker, but admits he is finding it difficult to identify a hit-man as efficient and as cost-effective as the 25-year-old pocket dynamo, who completed his £8.6 million transfer from Crystal Palace to Everton on Wednesday.

Wanderers appeared to be in pole position in the race for Johnson's signature when they were given permission to speak to the player after matching Wigan's bid last Friday. But, as soon as Everton threw their hat into the ring, it was clear that Johnson's preferred destination was Goodison Park, where he had previously expressed a wish to team up with his friend, James Beattie.

Allardyce still met the former Birmingham striker and his agent, Leon Angel, on Saturday, but already knew he was destined to miss out on a goalscorer he was confident could put Wanderers back on the European trail.

"Having started negotiations over four weeks ago, I was disappointed to miss out," the Wandferers boss said.

"Initially we were the frontrunner for Andy's signature and then Everton came in at the death to sign him.

"Andy was always determined to sign for Everton and it is a great shame we missed out. He would have cured 60 per cent of our problems, which is converting the chances we create.

"He could have easily made us into a top six team with his goals."

Wanderers made it clear with their Johnson bid almost double the record-breaking package they put together last summer to convert El-Hadji Diouif's loan from Liverpool into a permanent deal that they are ready to invest heavily in a tried and tested goalscorer.

But Allardyce, while welcoming the financial backing, still has a struggle on his hands to get the right man at the right price.

"The priority has to be a proven striker," he said. "We have earmarked a number of players and we were unfortunate to miss out on Andy Johnson.

"The challenge is to find another Andy Johnson that fits within our budget."