Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says if he survives into next season there will be major squad changes.

"I don't sit here smugly because Steve Gibson is my chairman," he told the Daily Mail. "I'm not blind. I don't think I am untouchable. I'm paid for results, paid to keep us in this league and that's going to be a tall order. There are things I haven't got right, things I haven't dealt with soon enough in managing young players, and I will learn from that.

"I know the budgets we are going to work with over the next two years and they might put more experienced managers off, but I want to fight for the chairman and repay his faith. His money is my responsibility and if we go down I know the cost in revenue, in jobs, I know what it means when, in the mollycoddled world of professional football, we have to start travelling to Plymouth Argyle by coach.

"Steve is a ruthless businessman and he will make the right decision for his money, as much as for the football club.

"If he genuinely thought someone could come in and fight fires like Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers or Terry Venables here under Bryan Robson, then he would do it. He will judge the mood of the players, what is going on behind the scenes. I think the players are still giving me everything, but some have not got what we thought they had. So changes will have to be made, either me or them."