Neil Warnock remains on the lookout for a left-sided player amid ex-Manchester United and Norwich City links as Middlesbrough boss admits Anfernee Dijksteel concerns

The former Manchester United, Norwich City and Burnley winger has been without a club since May after his contract at Turf Moor expired with the Irishman unable to agree a new deal with Sean Dyche’s Clarets.

And in recent weeks Brady has been the talk of a number of press conferences as managers pursue free agents to aid their squads between now and the January transfer window.

The 29-year-old looked set for a deal to take him to Turkey last month before a move collapsed with Boro and Championship rivals Swansea City credited an interest as Scottish Premiership giants Celtic also monitor the situation.

But Boro boss Warnock kept his cards close to his chest when asked about Brady admitting he is looking for a player on that side of the pitch.

“Robbie Brady is a good left sided player isn’t he, with tremendous ability,” said Warnock.

“I was surprised when he got released. I’m not sure his agent has got it right for him if I’m honest because it’s a good club Burnley.

“We are looking for that side, and that type of player out of contract, but you’ve got to be so careful now. Players out of contract won’t have been involved in high intensity training. So it’s alright looking but unless the right one comes along we’ll have to muck on with what we’ve got.

“[But] I’d be interested in any left sided player.”

The interest in free agents comes after Boro have had to deal with a number of injury setbacks at the start of the season which has impacted results on the field with Warnock’s side sitting 12th in the table ahead of this afternoon’s meeting with Hull City.

One of those injured players – who will miss the game with the Tigers – is fullback Anfernee Dijksteel who was forced to come off in the defeat to Blackpool at the Riverside.

And the Boro boss gave an update on Dijksteel while also admitting he has no regrets about sending would-be back-up Djed Spence out on-loan to Nottingham Forest.

“None whatsoever. I’m really pleased [with how well he’s doing]. I hope he plays out of his skin. He’ll be worth a lot more money then,” he said of Spence.

“I asked about [Dijksteel] yesterday and they said he’d probably be three to four weeks away. Then he’s going have to work very, very hard to build up his muscle so he doesn’t pick these injuries up.

“He has got to put the mileage in now to avoid these injuries. There’s only him can do that.

“I’m more concerned with what he does in training and what he does in his preparation before we start training which I think has left a lot to be desired in the past.

“We’re going to have to go back to school and watch him do these things if we can’t trust him. It’s only going to benefit us if he’s fit.

“We’ve only got Pelts as a fullback and he was meant to be a back-up so if we’ve got to watch more of what he does to make sure he’s available then we will do.”

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