STRIKER Alen Boksic has cried off from Middlesbrough's critical test at Arsenal today after falling victim to a virus.

The Croatia star, who made straight for the tunnel when he was substituted nine minutes from time in the 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at Newcastle, rang in yesterday to say he wouldn't be fit to face the Gunners.

But Boro manager Steve McClaren, whose side are only three points off a relegation place after three successive defeats, was quick to dismiss any suggestion that Boksic has become a problem.

"Alen is ill with flu and won't travel,'' said McClaren. "At this time of year, people pick up viruses and this one has knocked him out of this game.

"The fans will always put two and two together and I think Alen is an easy target when things are going wrong, which is very unfair on him.

"But there's no problem. He trains well and works very hard and he's a valuable player to us.

"People have obviously talked about his reaction when he came off the other day, but it was sheer frustration.

"I speak to him regularly and he's very happy here, but he's disappointed with himself at the moment.

"All strikers, when they're not scoring, take it personally. I think (at Newcastle) he was showing his frustration and unhappiness at not scoring. It was more frustration with himself than anything else.

"Alen will be the first to admit that he's not performing to the standard he sets himself, or we set him.

"But I've looked at the video of the Newcastle game and everybody - with the exception of Mark Crossley - was poor. It wasn't just Alen. We didn't perform as a team, which was a big disappointment and very unlike us.''

Boksic, Boro's Player of the Year last season, went out of his way on Christmas Eve to furiously refute claims that he was lined up for a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray.

The 31-year-old has scored Boro's only goal in their last six games, and McClaren knows the need is growing to boost his side's firepower.

Manchester United's Andy Cole is currently out of the first-team picture at Old Trafford, where his future looks increasingly uncertain.

And McClaren, the Red Devils' assistant manager before he took the plunge with Boro in the summer, yesterday refused to rule out a move for the former Newcastle striker, who could be available for around £8m.

The problem for McClaren is that his hands have been tied in the transfer market since Boro chairman Steve Gibson adopted a more cautious approach following seven years of lavish spending under the Bryan Robson regime.

But McClaren stressed: "We have to compete if we want to go places and be ambitious and improve, so you have to be in the market when players of quality become available.

"I've got to knock on the chairman's door if someone becomes available who I think would improve the squad.

"But we haven't made a bid for Andy Cole - take it as a 'no' at the moment.''

At the other end of the scale, Bobby Zamora, Brighton's prolific 20-year-old striker, is also again being strongly linked with Boro.

But McClaren insisted: "No bid has been made for Zamora.''

With Boksic out, Slovakian frontman Szilard Nemeth comes back into the frame after being rested for the last two games.

McClaren said: "It's his first season in England and I just felt he needed to come out for a while, but he's definitely back in contention.''

McClaren launched his managerial career with a 4-0 home defeat by Arsenal on the opening day of the season, and he admitted: "We're in the trenches at the moment and this game is another tough one. Arsenal are such an attacking force and Thierry Henry, at times, looks unplayable.

"But there are games to come where we will have better spells and collect the necessary points.

"After losing the first four matches this season, we collected 19 points from 11 games, and this team is well capable of doing that again over the next 11 games. That's how confident we are that we'll come through this spell.''

Meanwhile, Boro were yesterday hoping to put the finishing touches to striker Joseph-Desire Job's proposed loan move to French side Metz.

The Cameroon international, signed by former boss Robson from Lens for £3m in the summer of last year, has said he does not want to set foot in Middlesbrough again after almost four months in the first-team wilderness.

"We're looking at a loan deal until the end of the season,'' said McClaren.

"I think Joseph has had a frustrating time. He hasn't been able to force his way into the team and I can fully understand his frustration.''

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