Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is confident he'll be successful in the January market.

He said: "I have to see what's available in terms of players we want to bring in who we feel would strengthen us.

"But we are all very conscious that it is far from being the ideal time to do business. The transfer windows as they are make the transfer market very difficult to deal in.

"Whether you can get the ideal solution to your problems in January without paying well over the odds for them is very questionable. We want to strengthen if we possibly can because we want to do that at all times, and we certainly don't think - because we have had a couple of results - there doesn't need to be any improvement.

"Whatever the scenario had been, we are very conscious we have to do the right thing and get the right players through the door at the right figures. Having said that, in the past, when the right sort of people have been available, the chairman here has been fantastic in making it happen."

Asked about reports suggesting he has looked at bringing in Peter Crouch (Liverpool) and Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Southgate said: "It's news to me.

"It's that time of year when we will be linked with everybody. I don't think I have made any enquiries about those players. But they are obviously both very good players and I am sure, if they were available, we would be interested.

"But we have made no enquiries on that count. I don't know if either of those two would be available or whether we could do it, but they are certainly outstanding players. They are international players, so I would have thought it unlikely that we would be able to afford them."