A FRUSTRATED Steve McClaren last night pulled the plug on three deadline-day loan deals after chairman Steve Gibson refused to spend his way out of Middlesbrough's current crisis.

McClaren, who is struggling to name 16 fit players for this evening's North-East derby with Sunderland, arrived at work yesterday hoping to strengthen a squad that currently lies just three points clear of the drop zone.

Czech defender Martin Latka, who has subsequently joined Birmingham until the end of the season, Southampton midfielder Nigel Quashie and Charlton striker Jason Euell had all been lined up as possible additions.

But, despite adding Ugo Ehiogu and Fabio Rochemback to the injury list in the wake of Saturday's FA Cup draw with Coventry, McClaren has been told there will be no funds available for signings until the end of the season at the earliest.

Gibson had told him as much when the transfer window opened, and chief executive Keith Lamb underlined the point when he spoke of the club "cutting its cloth accordingly" earlier this month.

Szilard Nemeth's move to Strasbourg resulted in a marginal reduction of Boro's wage bill, and McClaren had been hoping the Slovakian's departure would lead to a slackening of Gibson's resolve.

That has not happened, though, and McClaren's only transfer activity has been the successful termination of defender Andrew Davies' loan deal at Derby.

"I can't bring anyone in," said a clearly disillusioned McClaren. "No-one will be coming because I've just been instructed that we can't bring any players in, be it on loan to the end of the season or on a permanent deal.

"It's disappointing but we get on with it. It's frustrating because we've got ten injuries and the squad is depleted.

"We have an FA Cup replay and Europe coming up so we have plenty to play for. I said we needed help and I said we needed more players to improve the squad. For whatever reason, it's not possible.

"Martin Latka was a player we wanted. We had him on trial for a couple of days, he did ever so well, and he wanted to sign for us. But I'm unable to make that happen.

"There were areas that we needed to strengthen, but we have been unable to do that. It's not helped us and it's important now that we keep the squad together."

McClaren's focus, therefore, has shifted to retaining the services of Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink. The Dutchman, who is out of contract at the end of the season, had been hoping to leave the Riverside this month in order to guarantee the security of an 18-month deal with alternative employers.

Fulham had been willing to offer the 33-year-old such a deal but, with Massimo Maccarone offering the only other cover to Mark Viduka and Aiyegbeni Yakubu, McClaren has been fighting tooth and nail to keep Hasselbaink on Teesside.

The former Chelsea striker has netted on each of his last three outings, and his likely appearance in this evening's game at the Stadium of Light will represent a rare victory for the Boro boss.

"Jimmy's been a fantastic professional for us and his performance on Saturday epitomised that," said McClaren. "He showed great leadership and scored the goal. We need Jimmy and we need him from now to the end of the season.

"I'm not even contemplating being without him. His performance on Saturday proved just what a totally committed professional he is. That is what we need at this present moment.

"I remember the last eight games of last season - Jimmy played the majority up front on his own and got the goals that took us into Europe. He will prove important to us again."

Given everything that has happened this month, McClaren is understandably desperate to see the transfer window swing shut.

Mark Schwarzer's failed transfer request and Ehiogu's aborted move to West Brom have proved particularly disruptive, with Lamb's incendiary radio interview last week heightening the sense of chaos engulfing the Riverside.

McClaren has refused to criticise his chief executive in public but, tellingly, the England No 2 has spoken of internal factors adding to the unsettled atmosphere.

"Everybody within the dressing room - the staff and the players - is getting a little fed up with all the criticism from the media, the fans and people within the football club," he said.

"When a team is in adversity, it has to stick together and ignore what's going on externally. Ignore the media, ignore a section of the fans and ignore what people are saying within the football club itself.

"We have to stick together as a football club and there's a siege mentality in there now.

"Everybody has to rally around each other. We have to close ranks, because we've got ourselves into this situation and only we can get ourselves out of it."

In a season littered with low points, September's 2-0 defeat to the Black Cats stemmed from a particularly disastrous display.

A repeat on Wearside would extend Boro's winless run to ten Premiership games but, despite his side's poor form, McClaren insists a sustained recovery is just one win away.

"One good win and it will come back," he said. "The last two months have not been good for us. There are a number of reasons for that, but we're struggling to win matches.

"Nobody is happy about that situation, but we're going to have to grind out results before we can turn the corner and play nice, entertaining football and score lots of goals. ''

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