Middlesbrough transfer news: Boro 'close to agreeing fee' for ex-youth international, Southampton eye in-demand defender

Speaking after the game, that saw Uche Ikpeazu and Matt Crooks provide Boro's two goals for the second game in a row, manager Neil Warnock reflected on a frenetic ninety minutes of football, and claimed: “I can’t fault the excitement, I thought it was a cracking game. Disappointed with the goals, disappointed we didn’t score more so disappointed with everything really.

“I think the goal knocked us a bit and we got caught on the break from our attack. I thought we were a bit soft tonight and one or two of our lads could have put a foot in earlier but we didn’t and we were passive.”

Meanwhile, Warnock accused opposition striker Charlie Austin of serious foul play on one of his players, and alleged: “I see Charlie Austin headbutt Grant Hall and nobody else sees it. It’s just amazing really. I thought he headbutted him, when you look at the video it looks like a straightforward headbutt to me.

“The referee said he saw it and thought it was a clash of heads. I think when you look at it it’s a little bit different.”

Boro will be looking to bounce back from the loss this weekend, when they travel to take on cash-strapped Derby County at Pride Park. Despite their off-the-field issues, the Rams have made a decent start to the season, and find themselves level on points with Middlesbrough heading into the weekend.

We’ve gathered the best of today’s transfer speculation below…