TONY MOWBRAY will resist an immediate dip into the loan market when it opens for business again today, with the Middlesbrough manager keen to give his existing players a chance to revive a stuttering promotion push.

After the frustration of the failed deadline day move for Danny Graham a week ago there has been an assumption among supporters that Mowbray is on the look out for a new forward.

Despite losing four Championship games in a row to slip down to within four points of the team sitting just outside the play-off zone, Burnley, the Boro boss is in no rush to add to his squad.

Mowbray is keeping an eye on things and open to the idea of bringing in someone to boost his squad, but is by no means on the phone desperate to strike a quick deal.

“Will we be using the loan market? It’s not at the forefront of my mind,” said Mowbray.

“What I would say is that only if the right player comes along at the right price.

“I’m not out there looking to get into the loan market.

We’re not going to add footballers to the squad for the sake of it. I can understand people saying we’ve lost four games so the perception is that we should get somebody in. But that doesn’t necessarily change it.

“Whether it’s a striker who will score ten goals before the end of the season or a midfielder who can come in and make a difference – but anyone who we bring in would have to be better than what we already have.”

Mowbray has been reluctant to make too many loan additions since taking over at the Riverside Stadium in October 2010. He still has Josh McEachran from Chelsea until the end of the season, but thinks options are often very limited.

“They have got to be exceptional players and football clubs aren’t in the business of loaning out exceptional players,”

said the Middlesbrough manager.

“If it’s a player from a Premier League club, then the likelihood is that he’s not been playing for a while so it’s going to be a few weeks before he’s match fit and up to speed.

“Ultimately if we think a player can make a difference and a loan would be right for the club and for the player then we may be interested.

“We wanted to sign Danny Graham, of course, but we’re not going to bring a striker in that isn’t any better than those we already have.

“I’ve got confidence that the players who did well for us before Christmas and got us into a great position will come good again.”

After the frustration of last weekend’s 4-0 defeat at Ipswich there is a need for Middlesbrough to give their push for the Premier League a kick with back-to-back home victories against Barnsley and Leeds.

Successfully achieving that task should help reduce the six-point gap to the second automatic promotion place, occupied by Leicester City.

The start to 2013 brings back memories of 12 months ago when it took Middlesbrough five games to record their first win after the turn of the year.

“I have faith in the players we have and believe in them.

I’m sure in the next few weeks we’ll be talking about a resurgent Boro,” said Mowbray.

“The pressure is from within.

We’re aware of the expectation out there that we have created.

“We have to rebound from the disappointment of losing four games. That’s what successful teams do.

“We have to get back to winning, start amassing the points again and hopefully get up towards 70-80 points and see where that takes us.

“We now have successive home games and that’s a real opportunity to get some points, confidence and belief, though we know it will be a little bit more pressure than in previous home games because of our recent run.

“We’ve actually only lost the one home game because three of the four we’ve lost have been away from home, but if we’re going to be successful then we have to win games.”

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