Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate refuses to use their financial predicament as an excuse for their poor season.

"I am conscious," Southgate told the Sunday Times, "that we can't use our financial situation as an excuse because people don't want to hear that. The reason why there is such a high turnover of managers in the Premier League is because expectations come from the realms of fantasy. Fortunately, I have a chairman who is not a fantasist.

"He has been through an administration at this club, picked it up and lived the highs and lows of the last 15 years. He makes judgments based on what is happening behind the scenes at the club, and not just on what happens on a Saturday afternoon."