Everton manager Sam Allardyce prioritising striker signing in January transfer window

Everton manager Sam Allardyce is already on the lookout for a new striker and believes the Toffees must recruit a new frontman in the January transfer window if they have designs on "achieving anything" this season.

Allardyce's first match in charge at Goodison Park ended in delight as his new side recorded a comfortable victory against a toothless Huddersfield Town. Goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and young forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin helped the Toffees to a routine win over David Wagner's side, who have not scored a goal away from home since the opening day of the season.

Much has been made of Calvert-Lewin's performances against Huddersfield and West Ham United - the 20-year-old led the line superbly for Everton against both sets of strugglers - but his recent heroics have not masked his side's desperate need for a new striker.

Everton's failure to replace Romelu Lukaku has been scrutinised to the nth degree since the summer transfer window slammed shut, and while Calvert-Lewin and former forgotten man Oumar Niasse have admirably stepped into the breach during a rather turbulent time in the club's history, Allardyce knows he must bolster his frontline with a player who can guarantee at least 10-15 goals.

The former England manager has a three-man shortlist of strikers under consideration, according to the Daily Mail. Jermain Defoe, Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke are all said to be in Allardyce's thoughts, though it remains to be seen if director of football Steve Walsh agrees with the man he had a big hand in bringing to Merseyside.

"I have to say it [signing a new striker] is a priority. If we achieve anything going forward to get into the top half, we need at least two players to score 10 goals or more," Allardyce said.

"If you can't get one who can score 20, which is a very difficult task, you have to get one or two in who can get between 10 and 15. In all fairness, I stayed in the Premier League with Jermain Defoe scoring 18 at Sunderland and Christian Benteke scoring 16 at Crystal Palace.

"There is a certain amount of goals you need to finish 10th, around the 50-goal mark. So how do we get those?"

Wayne Rooney is Everton's top scorer so far this season with eight goals but Allardyce knows he cannot rest the goalscoring responsibility on the 32-year-old, who will be desperate to add to his tally on Sunday when the Toffees face Liverpool at Anfield.

Rooney has been crucial to Everton's fortunes since returning from Manchester United in the summer but was recently consigned to the substitutes' bench by interim boss David Unsworth, who tried valiantly to pull the club he adores out of the mire they were left in by Ronald Koeman.

Rooney was restored to starting line-up against West Ham in midweek and scored a hat-trick to help his side romp to a 4-0 victory, but Allardyce knows he must manage the veteran's minutes if he is to see performances such as the one against David Moyes' side on a regular basis.

"It's for me to judge when Wayne can keep delivering the kind of performance he did against West Ham the other night. And for me to talk to him about it and say "I might have to rest you in a game. I know you will be upset about it but I feel that as the manager it will be what you need. When you come back in you will be the match winner, the man of the match",' Allardyce said.

"He probably won't accept it like the rest but it's my job to be good enough as a manager to try and get the best out of him. It might be that he can handle it. I don't know yet. I've only been here for two minutes.

"Wayne's legs are not as good as they used to be and they can't be. He has played from 17 to 31 and apart from being injured, he won't have had three weeks off a year. It has been one hell of a career."