GARRY MONK is determined to make further additions to his Middlesbrough squad, but the Boro boss accepts he will also have to sanction a number of departures before the transfer window closes.

Monk watched his side continue their pre-season preparations with a 2-2 draw at Mansfield Town last night, with goals from Mikael Soisalo and Dael Fry overhauling a two-goal deficit against League Two opposition.

Summer signings Jonny Howson and Cyrus Christie were both involved at Field Mill – the former scored an unfortunate own goal – with Martin Braithwaite and Britt Assombalonga expected to  feature in Saturday’s game at Rochdale.

Monk remains keen to sign a new goalkeeper, with Newcastle United’s Karl Darlow still at the top of his wanted list, and is likely to seek further defensive cover, but there will also be players heading through the exit door as he looks to keep the size of his squad to a manageable level.

Stewart Downing should complete his move to Birmingham City in the next 24 hours, while full-back Fabio da Silva is close to agreeing a deal with Brazilian side Cruzeiro that will see him return to his homeland.

“I think the squad still needs to be strengthened in certain areas, which we’re fully aware of as a club,” said Monk. “But you also have to balance things the other way, and I’m mindful that we have to bring money in.

“I think we’ve done that well, so in terms of incomings and outgoings, and balancing it to make sure the money is right for both sides, I think we’ve done well. In terms of the quality coming in and out, I think the club have done well.

“I’m happy with that side of it, but we have to put the football on top of it now. There have been lots of positives in terms of how the players have approached things, and that gives you confidence going into the season.”

At the start of the summer, it was anticipated that Gaston Ramirez would be leaving Teesside, but the Uruguayan returned to the first-team fold ahead of the recent training camp in Portugal and was arguably Boro’s best player last night.

He remains the subject of interest from a number of clubs in Spain, but Monk has hinted he could yet have a long-term future with his current employers.

“I look at my job, and my job is to help the players that are with me on a daily basis, whether they’re with me for one day or they’re with me for ten years,” said the Boro boss. “I look at my job, and it is to help the players.

“All I ask of the players is commitment to what they are doing, and the right attitude towards the work that we’re asking them to do. When they show me that attitude and commitment, there’ll be no problem whatsoever.

“The players are fully aware of that, I told them on the first day, and Gaston has been great. His attitude and desire to do the work has been great, as has his commitment with everything he has been doing. That’s fine by me.”

Boro’s first pre-season game on English soil saw Monk leave a host of established names out of his squad, but having missed out last night, Daniel Ayala, Ben Gibson, Adam Clayton, Marten de Roon, Adama Traore and Rudy Gestede are all expected to be involved when the Teessiders return to action at Rochdale on Saturday.

Christie and Howson were involved from the outset last night, although the latter will not have especially fond memories of his first domestic Boro outing.

Howson partnered Grant Leadbitter at the base of midfield and sprayed around some neat passes either side of forcing Mansfield goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik into a decent save with a crisp shot from the edge of the area.

However, his most notable involvement was the 14th-minute own goal that gave Mansfield the lead. Mal Benning volleyed a deep free-kick across the face of the area, and Howson sliced an attempted clearance into his own net.

Mansfield scored again four minutes later, with Lee Angol taking advantage of a huge gap between Fry and Alex Baptiste to slot a low shot past Dimi Konstantopoulos, but Boro pulled a goal back within 60 seconds as Finnish youngster received the ball from Patrick Bamford and slammed a fierce rising drive into the roof of the net.

Fry had already had a header cleared off the line by that stage, and the centre-half hauled Boro level shortly before the half-hour mark as he powered home a close-range header from Ramirez’s free-kick.

“It was the first 90 minutes in pre-season for a lot of those players, and this week was always planned to get 90 minutes into as many players as possible,” said Monk. “That was the pleasing thing from a physical perspective.

“The football was what I would expect from this stage. There were some really good passages of play that we have been working on, and other parts where we need to improve.

“We are in very early days. It’s a new manager with new ideas and a new way of working, and we have had some players going in and out. It feels like a new group, so with all those elements in place, we’re where I would have expected to be - some good things, and some things we need to work on.”

Mansfield (4-4-2): Olejnik; White, Taft, Diamond, Benning; Atkinson, Anderson, Byrom (Collins 87), Digby (Thomas 85); Sterling-James (Slew 71), Angol.

Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Konstantopoulos; Christie, Baptiste (Chapman 64), Fry, Friend (Mahmutovic 46); Leadbitter, Howson; Soisalo, Ramirez (Miller 74), Forshaw; Bamford.

Subs (not used): James (gk), Hegarty, Wing.