GARRY MONK remains confident of making an attacking addition before the end of the transfer window, despite Brentford having rejected Middlesbrough’s £4.5m bid for Jota.

Boro’s initial attempt to sign Jota was rebuffed yesterday, and the club’s recruitment team are currently working with Monk to assess whether to submit an improved offer.

Alternative attacking targets have also been discussed, and with seven more days before the August 31 transfer deadline, there will be no knee-jerk reaction to Brentford’s initial refusal to sell.

Monk also remains keen to sign a defender, with a deal having been agreed for Birmingham City centre-half Ryan Shotton, and is confident he will have made the additions he is looking by the time the window closes next Thursday.

“We’ve done the bulk of our work, but we still have one or two things we want to do and we’re hopeful we’ll do them,” said Monk. “I think we’ve had a successful window – we’ve brought money in and moved players out as well as recruiting new players.

“We’ve been linked with thousands of names through pre-season, but that’s quite normal. It’s all in hand with the club. There are a couple of positions we want to try to strengthen the club with.”

Boro have also been fielding interest in their own players, and have rejected a bid of around £6m from Leeds United for striker Rudy Gestede.

Leeds are expected to return with a second approach in the next few days, but having ruled out any more sales in the wake of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win over Scunthorpe United, Monk remains adamant he does not have to sell anyone he does not want to.

“It’s all speculation, so I don’t really have to answer on it,” said Monk, when questioned specifically about Gestede. “You can see from the performances of all the players that the attitude and commitment to what we’re doing is clearly there.

“Those guys are showing that, and we’re focused as a group. It’s more about the couple of positions where we need to strengthen the squad because we’ve had a lot of outgoings and we’ve got a much smaller squad than before.

“That is by design, but it’s about strengthening in those couple of positions to make sure we have what we need.”

Boro return to Championship action topn Saturday when Preston visit the Riverside, and while their opponents might be one of the less-heralded sides in the second tier, Monk will be taking nothing for granted.

“They’ve had a very good start,” he said. “I know Alex (Neil) very well, and he’s a very good manager. They’ve started really well, and like every game, we know it’s going to be difficult, very competitive.

“We had a good result on Tuesday, which was a good response to losing against Forest. We want to take the positives from that and finish with a good result before the international break.”

Martin Braithwaite will not be involved on Saturday as he continues to recover from injury, but the summer signing from Toulouse should be available for the first game after the international break.