NEIL WARNOCK is confident he will not be losing Dael Fry, Paddy McNair or Marcus Tavernier ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline, but accepts the trio will not stay at the Riverside forever if Middlesbrough remain in the second tier.

Tavernier was linked with a possible move to Burnley this week, with Clarets boss Sean Dyche having reportedly lined up an offer for the 22-year-old. Burnley have previously made unsuccessful offers for Fry, while McNair has also been touted for a potential move to the Premier League.

Warnock is not surprised that top-flight clubs have been monitoring the trio, but with Steve Gibson adamant he will not be selling any key performers this summer, the Boro boss is not anticipating any late transfer dramas.

However, he also acknowledges that his side’s three biggest stars will not be happy performing in the Championship forever, and admits there would be no chance of Boro being able to sign them if they were not already on the books.

“I’d agree with that (that they won’t stay at Middlesbrough in the Championship forever), and I think Steve knows that too,” said Warnock, ahead of today’s home game with Blackburn. “But isn’t it great to have three players like that? I mean, what valuation would you put on any of them? I think you take Paddy for granted really, but when you look at the money that’s going out on other players…

“I mean look at the lad (Ben) Davies, who Liverpool signed from Preston. I was delighted at that, if I’m honest, because I think Dael’s a much better player.

“I’m just delighted that my phone’s not gone and something’s silly happened, and I don’t think it will now. If anything, the injuries helped me last year because Dael missed quite a lot of games so he wasn’t watched, and Tav missed quite a lot of games too and wasn’t watched.

“They’re looking at them now, and no doubt they’ll be thinking about Christmas already and the January window. They won’t be going anywhere in the next few days, but we wouldn’t have had the money to sign any of those players if we didn’t already have them.”

With Tavernier having returned from injury in last weekend’s goalless draw with Derby, all three will be in the starting line-up for today’s game with Blackburn.

Fry, in particular, will have unhappy memories of last season’s home defeat to Rovers as he was left with a horrific facial injury following a dreadful challenge from Jarrad Branthwaite that went completely unpunished.

The loss was followed four days later by another home defeat to Rotherham, and Warnock remains livid at the detrimental impact the incident had on the second half of Boro’s season.

“Last season was a game where I thought we were better than them, but the referee killed our season,” he said. “I thought that finished us completely – not only not giving us a penalty, but then seeing Dael injured for so long.

“It just knocked the stuffing out of us really. We weren’t capable of coming back from that, it was a devastating blow. Hopefully, we’ll get a better outcome this time.”

Warnock’s main selection dilemma revolves around Duncan Watmore, with the winger having returned to training in the last couple of days.

“Duncan trained yesterday,” he said. “I didn’t really want to risk him before the international break because I thought he would definitely recover with that period, but we’ll have to see how he is.”

Middlesbrough (probable, 5-4-1): Lumley; Dijksteel, Hall, McNair, Fry, Bola; Tavernier, Howson, Crooks, Jones; Ikpeazu.