Swansea 0 Middlesbrough 3

GARETH SOUTHGATE is considering a bid for £700,000- rated Aberdeen striker Lee Miller after being put off by Derby’s £5m asking-price for Rob Hulse.

The failure to find a buyer for Tuncay Sanli is limiting Boro’s buying-power and Gordon McQueen scouted 26-yearold Miller in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Celtic.

Southgate still expects Tuncay to leave within the next fortnight with Sunderland and Aston Villa showing interest in the Turkey international.

Despite Miller struggling to make a mark against Tony Mowbray’s side the former Scotland international offers the type of physical presence Southgate wants to lead the line.

While Boro secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Swansea that belied their supposed lack of firepower, wingers Adam Johnson and Mark Yeates would clearly benefit from having a towering frontman to convert their crosses.

Boro’s performance at the Liberty Stadium went some way toward dispelling a trio of accusations that have dogged Southgate’s team.

Firstly, a Marvin Emnes wonder strike sandwiched between Tuncay’s late header and Johnson’s cross-cumshot, allayed fears that Boro will struggle to score in the Championship.

Had they pressed their advantage, this would have been an ideal opportunity to build up early-season credit in the goals scored column.

And concerns about the absence of a midfield enforcer were firmly laid to rest after Gary O’Neil’s masterful performance scuppered the home side’s passing game.

His commitment to the promotion campaign cannot be questioned after he laid the foundations for what became a comfortable victory. The midfielder will delay his hernia operation until the international break at the start of September and while he expected to feel the after affects yesterday morning, he’s hoping to face Scunthorpe tomorrow evening.

But the biggest monkey off Boro’s back was the proof that they can secure three points away from the Riverside Stadium.

Saturday’s victory was their first on the road since mid-November and their most emphatic since they put three past Sunderland over three and half years ago.

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s particularly pleasing to get an away win in that manner” noted Southgate.

“Our strategy was to stop them playing their passing game and winning possession as high up the pitch as possible.

We did that well.

“Swansea have lost key players in (Jordi) Gomez and (Jason) Scotland so I felt this was a good opportunity for us.

The basis of it was the clean sheet and I was angry that we nearly threw that away at the end. We have to make sure we’re ruthless.”

And the manager was delighted to see Emnes, who offered no threat to the Swans’ goal in the first half, crack an unstoppable drive past Dorus de Vries after the break.

“It’s what he’s capable of.

He scored a similar goal at Macclesfield in pre-season,’’ he said. “We had one or two who weren’t at their best but they still produced some moments of quality to win us the game.”

Asked about his decision to offer Tuncay a late cameo, Southgate replied: “The team have a spirit of togetherness and we know that those lads are with us for the long haul.

We don’t know that about Tuncay. I think it’s very difficult for him because no-one expects him to be here in a fortnight’s time.

“Mentally that is difficult for any player. But I was determined that even though he had along journey back from the Ukraine in midweek he would be with us today.

“I knew he could give us a cutting edge and it was nice to put him on when we were in control and you’re not asking him to salvage anything. I would consider playing him from the start of a game but you’ve got to be sure that his head and his heart are right.

While he is our player he will play when he can.”

Aston Villa have cooled their interest, however Stoke City claim they are confident of agreeing a £2.5m bid for Robert Huth but Southgate is in no mood to do business.

“Robert has been outstanding through pre-season and we know he’s an excellent defender.

I’ve made him captain because he’s displaying the kind of leadership qualities I want in that dressing room.

He’s expressed no desire to leave and the club haven’t received an offer we would consider anyway,” he said.

“The fans will have left Swansea with a smile on their face, we’re taking a big following to Scunthorpe so hopefully we can do the same. A result like that does everyone the world of good. We have to make sure we don’t get carried away with ourselves.

Scunthorpe got a fantastic result against Derby on Saturday, so that will be another tough game. We have to get result after result and the mentality has to be right.”

Matchfacts

Goals: 0-1: Johnson (32mins, fired a low shot from the left wing that took a slight deflection) 0-2: Emnes (52mins, superb right foot strike from eighteen yards into the roof of the net), 0-3: Tuncay (80mins, flicked a header through crowded penalty area from Johnson’s corner)
Bookings: Williams (32, foul), O’Neil (38, foul), Orlandi (51,foul), McMahon (70, foul), Dobbie 90, dissent), Huth (90, foul)
Referee: Paul Taylor (Herts) – Angered the home crowd by refusing penalty claim, too eager to issue cards 5
Attendance: 16,201
Entertainment: ✰✰✰

SWANSEA CITY (4-5-1): de Vries 4; Williams 6 (McDonald 63, 5), Tate 6, Monk 5, Rangel 6; Dyer 6, Orlandi 5 (Pintado 67, 5), BRITTON 7, Gower 4 (Thomas 63, 5); Dobbie 6. Subs (not used): Painter, Cornell, Bessone, Bond

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):
6 Coyne: Good awareness to tip over Orlandi’s testing free-kick and apart from some wayward distribution was pretty solid
6 McMahon: Given far too much time by a pedestrian Swansea attack
7 Wheater: Mopped up the home side’s rare attacks and almost scored from Boro’s first chance of the game
6 Huth: Solid, uncompromising, it is no surprise that Premier League clubs are lining up to sign him
6 Grounds: Did well to settle into the game after a shaky start
7 Yeates: Plenty to enjoy again from the Irish winger who linked play well and supported the strikers
8 O’NEIL: Any question that he’s fully committed were firmly put to bed
5 Williams: Struggled to impose himself and the jury is still out as to whether he is the answer to Boro’s central midfield
7 Johnson: His marauding runs were a trademark of Boro’s second half
6 Lita: Not match fit but acquitted himself well with intelligent movement
6 Emnes: If his all round performance matched his goal he’d deserve a ten

Subs: Tuncay (for Emnes 67mins): Enjoyed what was probably his last goal in a Boro shirt 7 Franks (for Lita 79mins) Arca (for Yeates 85mins) Subs (not used): Steele, Hoyte, Taylor, Hines

MAN OF THE MATCH
GARY O’Neil – Who said Boro don’t possess a midfield general?