Southgate must scratch around in January to bolster his numbers (From The Northern Echo)

Southgate must scratch around in January to bolster his numbers

9:23am Monday 12th January 2009 in Middlesbrough By Scott Wilson

Southgate must scratch around in January to bolster his numbers WITH his transfer kitty bare, Gareth Southgate will look at loan signings as a means of strengthening his Middlesbrough squad this month.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland underlined the lack of midfield depth in the current Boro squad, with defender Matthew Bates having to appear as a makeshift midfielder when both Didier Digard and Josh Walker were forced off with injury.

Southgate admits he is short of central options, but with chairman Steve Gibson continuing to insist that no senior players will be sold to raise funds this month, there is insufficient money to make a permanent signing.

A loan move, on the other hand, could be a possibility, and having successfully defused the Stewart Downing situation last week, Southgate will turn his attention to possible arrivals in the next two or three days.

“Loans are something we will have to see about as we go forward because there is nothing there (in terms of funds),” said the Boro boss.

“We have to accept that situation and get on with it.

“That is the task we are given. We have a couple of people to come back in because Gary O’Neil was ill and I didn’t include (Mohamed) Shawky in the squad. We’ve got what we’ve got and, at the moment, we have to get on with that.”

Southgate has shown that he is willing to look within his squad in an attempt to increase his options, with Walker the latest youngster to have forced his way into the first-team picture.

Tony McMahon has also re-emerged as a first-team regular in recent weeks, and Middlesbrough would have lost at the weekend had the full-back not produced a magnificent last-ditch tackle to thwart Djibril Cisse as the Sunderland striker galloped clear in stoppage time.

McMahon, whose current contract is due to expire in the summer, spent most of the first half of the season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, and his days as a Boro player appeared to be numbered when Southgate agreed to his return to Hillsborough after he recovered from an injury.

He has subsequently returned to Teesside, though, and with firstchoice full-back Justin Hoyte nursing a long-term knee injury, is likely to be a pivotal performer in the remainder of the campaign.

“He has been a real bonus,” said Southgate. “He has had a desire to prove me and other people wrong. He needed his spell at Sheffield Wednesday, but he is somebody who wants to be at the football club, wants to be in the team and wants to prove himself at this level.

“He wants to fight for a new contract. He has had two horrendous injuries, two broken legs, and that is difficult for anybody to come back from.

“He didn’t look near to where he needed to be in pre-season, so we sent him on that loan spell to get him back up to speed. But ever since then, he has been excellent.”