Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has pleaded for patience as he continues his overhaul of the club.

He told the Evening Gazette: "I am confident about turning it around, no question, but in terms of turning it around, I suppose it depends on how high expectations are.

"We are a club that has only finished in the top 10 of the league twice since the start of the Premier League.

"So much change took place last year, you think you have got through it, and everything changes again this summer because of the players we were unable to keep hold of.

"But we have got to build slowly and grow as a team, and what we have got in place is a significantly younger squad than we had 12 to 18 months ago that can stay together for a period of time.

"We have to grow and build on that together and at the moment, we are having to accept that we are going to get a lot of knock-backs.

"But we are all big enough to deal with that."