Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has denied he is looking to sell the club or that the newly relegated Teessiders are on the verge of administration. "We hate The Championship," Gibson told the Daily Mail.

"We don't want to be in it. We are a Premier League club.

"We are determined to get back to The Premier League as quickly as possible and I firmly believe that when we get back we will be a force.

"There has never been any risk whatsoever that this club would go into administration and there is no risk. The finances of the club are very good - and the club is not for sale.

"The club's debts have been widely reported but those debts have been reduced by two thirds and were we to go back into the Premier League next season we would have less debt than most clubs."