The Boro boss is forced to search for a central midfielder before the beginning of the season after it was confirmed that Matthew Bates has ruptured a cruciate ligament in his knee.
The versatile player who played in the centre of Boro’s midfield last season suffered the injury in the 2-0 win at Carlisle United on Saturday afternoon.
Matthew has just signed a contract extension to stay at the Riverside, but is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Southgate was rumoured to be in talks with Bryan Hughes of Hull City last month. The experienced midfielder might be a good purchase after all. The midfield options are looking thin after Digard was forced out of the Dumbarton match with a problematic hip-flexor.
We definitely need to bring in a couple of experienced and preferably non-injury-prone players for next season.
Southgate faces a tough challenge as the resources are still tight despite the sale of Downing. Good luck GS!
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Free transfers is the way forward. Hughes would be minimal dough. We do need a couple more central midfielders for cover. Shawky might go leaving us with Arca and O’Neil as our only experienced midfielders. Digard (injury prone) Bates (long term injury).
i really think digard has waht it takes to make it with the boro and in the championship i reckon he would fit in excellently as he does not shy away from challenges but as you say slaven he has been unlucky with injuries
I like Digard, i think he’ll be good for us next season. But, as i’ve said all year round, we need to raid the premiership for good young players on loan. Someone like Darron Gibson fits the bill.