r00fie1
Well-known member
Neil Warnock changes transfer focus - with a new defender now a key priority ahead of Monday's deadline
NEIL WARNOCK admits it is imperative Middlesbrough overcome a double transfer setback to sign a defender and an attacking player ahead of Monday’s…
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk
Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock keen to sign a new defender
Scott Wilson 27th January 2021[IMG alt="Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has seen two proposed transfer deals fall through in the last 24 hours
"]https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/r...splay=1&htype=0&type=responsive-gallery[/IMG]
Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has seen two proposed transfer deals fall through in the last 24 hour
NEIL WARNOCK admits it is imperative Middlesbrough overcome a double transfer setback to sign a defender and an attacking player ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline.
As well as preparing for this evening’s home game with Rotherham United, Warnock has spent the last 24 hours digesting some disappointing transfer news that has seen Boro miss out on two Premier League loan targets that had previously looked destined to move to the Riverside.
The players’ respective managers have pulled the plug on the deals as issues at their own clubs mean they can no longer afford to trim their squad, forcing Warnock to admit he is effectively back to square one with just six days of the transfer window remaining.
Nevertheless, with Marcus Tavernier facing a long-term lay-off with a knee issue and injury concerns also hanging over Anfernee Dijksteel and Dael Fry, Warnock accepts his squad is being stretched to its limits. As a result, he concedes it is absolutely essential that reinforcements arrive before Monday night.
“This can’t be the squad for the rest of the season,” said the Boro boss. “We’ve got to get players in. I’ll be bringing players in. It’s just working out how I’m going to get them in and what it’s going to take to do that.
“It’s probably going to be a case of going back on a few things, although one or two more names have cropped up in the last 12 hours. I think towards the end of the window, there’ll be quite a few players who are out of contract in the summer where clubs will take offers because they don’t want to lose them for nothing.
“We’ll be looking at that, and there will be one or two players that become available. It’s just a case of getting value for money. But we are short in certain areas, and if we are going to make a push for it from February onwards, we’ve got to have a little bit more cover for when the likes of Dijksteel, Dael and Tav are missing. We have to bring in at least a couple – ideally two or three.”
Last week, Warnock was suggesting he would be focusing all his transfer attention on the attacking third. However, with Dijksteel and Fry both major doubts for this evening’s game with the Millers, the need for another defender has become much more acute. Nathan Wood will no longer be allowed to leave on loan, and defensive targets are being revisited.
“We’ll definitely have to look to do that (sign a defender) now,” said Warnock. “It’s just showed us that we’ve really been lucky, injury-wise, so far. Our luck seems to have run out at the moment, so we’re going to have to start making our own luck now.
“Woody has really got to stay now. He’s got so much to learn, as you could see on Saturday. He needs games, but it’s how we deal with him that’s the question. It’s Catch-22 at the minute.”
While Fry is showing no serious effects from Sunday’s incident with Jarrad Branthwaite, Tavernier’s slip in the closing stages of the weekend’s game will have longer-lasting repercussions.
The forward will be sidelined for a number of weeks after injuring his knee, with Warnock clearly frustrated with the standard of the playing surface at the Riverside.
“It’s another slip on the grass,” he said. “The pitch is not very good at all – and it won’t be for the rest of the season. I don't think they had enough time in the break to take the top surface off. It’s the inside of his knee. He’s had a scan, and I don’t expect we’ll see him for a few weeks.”
Middlesbrough (probable, 4-3-3): Bettinelli; Spence, Wood, McNair, Bola; Morsy, Howson, Saville; Watmore, Assombalonga, Johnson.
