TONY Mowbray is confident Andrew Taylor will sign a new contract with Middlesbrough before the end of the season.

Taylor's current deal is due to expire in the summer, and Boro officials turned down an offer of around £200,000 from Championship rivals Watford during the January transfer window.

Since then, the former England Under-21 international has established himself as a key component of the Middlesbrough midfield, despite having spent the majority of his career at left-back.

Watford are one of a number of clubs hoping to prise Taylor away from the Riverside in the summer, but having held a series of discussions with the 24-year-old and his representatives, Mowbray is hoping the situation will be resolved in Middlesbrough's favour before the end of the current campaign.

"His contract isn't sorted yet, but in my mind, it's not very far off," said the Boro boss. "It isn't signed yet, but I'm happy with the way our talks and conversations have gone.

"There's one or two things that still need ironing out, and until he actually puts pen to paper you never really know. If he keeps playing as well as he has been, he might find himself with more options in the summer. But I'd be pretty hopeful that he'll still be here at Middlesbrough next season."

With Joe Bennett having cemented his status as Boro's first-choice left-back under Mowbray, Taylor has been moved further up the field.

He scored his first senior Middlesbrough goal in last month's 2-1 win over Watford, and as he grows more accustomed to his new role, Mowbray expects him to become a more regular scorer.

"I think there are more goals in his locker," he said. "He has a defensive mind because he's been a left-back all his career. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but we need to loosen it off a little bit and give him the freedom to express his talent going forward. If he does that, I'm sure he'll score more goals.

"I enjoy watching him. He has the right tools for the job and a good personality. I think he enjoys what we ask him to do - if he didn't, he'd be at Watford by now.

"While he doesn't always catch the eye as a star player, week in week out he does a very solid job. He keeps the ball moving and has a great work ethic to win it back."

Taylor will retain his starting spot when Leicester City visit the Riverside tomorrow, but a fit-again Seb Hines is expected to replace Jonathan Grounds at centre-half.

Stephen McManus and Andrew Davies were both involved in a midweek reserves win over Leeds, while Matthew Bates is back at Rockliffe Park after travelling to America to receive treatment on his injured hamstring.

However, with Rhys Williams having impressed at the heart of defence following his own return from injury, Mowbray finds himself in the welcome position of not having to rush his more senior defenders back onto the field.

"I don't have to change things around if I don't want to because we've got some options in the squad now," he said. "The biggest positive for me is that Seb Hines has had his injection (to treat an ankle injury) and he's back training with no ill effects.

"He's only missed one week training, so his match fitness hasn't really suffered. Stephen has been out for nearly five months, so that's quite a while, and Matthew has been out for more than two months too."