TONY MOWBRAY will meet up again with his Middlesbrough players again today when they return for pre-season training and he hopes there will be new faces joining them in July.

Mowbray spent last night trying to convince Andrew Taylor that his future should be at the Riverside Stadium.

Cardiff City are hoping to lure him to Wales while Taylor has been in two minds about what to do.

Whether he is at the training ground or not this morning, he will not be joined by Julio Arca.

Arca’s contract, like Taylor’s, are due to expire and that means both would officially become free agents if new deals are not signed by close of play today.

But even if the pair do leave, Mowbray is not expecting to be able to bring in any of his own signings until more players are moved on, with a move to Nice for Didier Digard most likely if an agreement can be reached over the remaining 12 months on his contract.

But Mowbray, well aware of the chairman’s drive to reduce the wage bill following two seasons in the Championship, will do everything he can to persuade chairman Steve Gibson to bring a player in if he feels there is a real danger that Middlesbrough will miss out.

“Losing a certain amount off our annual wage bill, like if Julio goes, will help us, but we can’t just add it back on by bringing someone else in. What’s the point in that?” said Mowbray.

“But I have to say to the chairman, though, if there is a player I really like, that this is a top player and we need him to play in this position. It’s my job to try to show the chairman a potential deal if the right one comes along. I will do that.

“The ideal scenario is that we move players on first. But if a gift horse comes walking past one day then you have to be careful not to let it keep walking. I have to fight hard to make the chairman understand that if it does happen.”

Despite his hopes to bring in new players before the Championship season opens at home to Portsmouth on August 6, Mowbray is satisfied he has the players in his squad capable of competing at the right end of the division.

Mowbray led Middlesbrough through a run of just one defeat in their final 12 matches last season, including ending with four straight wins, and that has offered plenty of hope.

“This group of players did pretty well in the last few months. It is the same group we are heading in to pre-season with,” said Mowbray.

“The bigger picture is though that we need to have outgoings before we can bring players in. The phone has got to ring for players.

“If we had been top of the league then the phone might have been ringing. We weren’t and we haven’t. The phone is not ringing at the moment.

“But this group of players have shown they would be competitive in this league so we will take every potential deal on its own merits if they come along.”

Mowbray is keen to retain the young members of his squad, knowing their wages are not hurting the club and that they could provide the base for Middlesbrough to start a revival.

“Everyone is saying how quiet it has been and is but it doesn’t feel like that when you have agents ringing you to try to get you to buy players, sell players,” he said.

“We are looking ahead to getting the players back into the squad. There will be some comings and goings. We have to get back to a level where we can build again, so if that means losing some important players then so be it because we need to push on again. We will see what July and August brings.”