Ex-Manchester United man linked with Middlesbrough and Celtic as Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest loanees get first wins

Marcus Tavernier’s first goal of the campaign wasn’t enough for Boro who conceded twice in the second half at the Riverside.

The result leaves Boro 16th in the Championship table as Neil Warnock’s side struggle to live up to their pre-season hopes.

The Boro boss gets a full week with his squad on the training pitch now ahead of Saturday’s trip to Reading where he will hope to have a number of players back from injury including Marc Bola and Paddy McNair.

But before that we look at some of the main talking points you might have missed today.

Former Premier League winger linked

One of the main issues Warnock is having to endure is down Boro’s left-hand-side.

With Bola injured and having let fullback Hayden Coulson join Ipswich Town on loan, options have been limited with the experienced Lee Peltier filling in over the last two games.

As such Boro’s interest in that side of the pitch has been heightened with reports linking the Teessiders to former Norwich City and Burnley man Robbie Brady.

Brady began his career and Manchester United and has been without a club since leaving Turf Moor in May after failing to agree a new deal.

The 29-year-old has plenty of Premier League experience throughout his career as well as featuring 45 times for the Republic of Ireland.

Earlier this month it looked as though Brady was set for a surprise switch to Turkey but a move did not materialise.

And now Warnock is hoping to move in for the winger who can occupy a number of positions on the left-hand-side but the Boro boss will have to fend off interest from Scottish giants Celtic who are also said to be monitoring his situation.

Loan stars off the mark

Boro duo Coulsen and Djed Spence both enjoyed successful weekends as they earned their first wins at their new clubs.

Coulsen played a key role in Ipswich’s win over Lincoln City at the LNER Stadium providing the assist for the only goal of the game scored by Macauley Bonne.

Meanwhile Spence, who was unable to feature in Boro’s recent win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, was part of the side who earned a comfortable 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town following the departure of former Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton.

Derby delight for youngsters

Boro U23’s continued their fine start to the Premier League 2 Division 2 campaign earning bragging rights over North East rivals Sunderland at the Academy of Light.

The young Black Cats came within a penalty shootout of promotion last season but the Boro academy side inflicted their fourth defeat of the campaign to move up to fourth in the table one point behind leaders Fulham.

Josh Coburn netted either side of half-time to add to Harry Green’s opener for a fourth straight win for Boro in a side which also featured defender Sol Bamba.

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