Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka is facing a striker crisis as he looks to solve their goal drought problem. The Teessiders face the prospect of being dragged into arelegation battle after often failing to find the net this season. They have scored just three goals in their last nine league games and have only managed to score on 19 occasions all season.
It is thought that Karanka is considering dropping star manAlvaro Negredo for their trip to Stoke City on Saturday, and that he is not confident £6m striker Patrick Bamford is ready to start yet.
That could providenew signing Rudy Gestede with the chance to lead the line at Stoke,but he has gone 36 games without a Premier League win - a runwhich stretches back to August 2015 during his time at Aston Villa.
It's time for everyone to show their trust in this team. These players deserve credit for all that they've done. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/1rR1TCcgdk
With regard to Bamford, theMirrorquote him as saying: "When he arrived back here that he needed time, it's not easy to play because he's been out for 18 months and he's had four chances to play and is the only player who had four chances in a row. He played against West Ham, West Brom, Tottenham and Accrington.
He came to my office and I was showing him the reason he is not playing now, why he's not in the team now and he understood it. He need to learn, he needs to improve.
He left here when we were in the Championship and now we're PL and the tempo and intensity is completely different."
When asked about Gestede's winless streak, he added: "Rudy will win a game soon. I wasn't aware of that record, no."
Alvaro Negredo has been involved in six of Middlesbrough's last nine league goals (five goals, one assist) (@OptaJoe) #MFC pic.twitter.com/5EQef4mO7B
The Borough manager also refused to hint at whether Negredo would start their next match. He said: "I know, but I'm not going to tell you if he starts. I don't tell you because he doesn't know yet and I think it's fair to tell him first.�
Karanka went on to suggest that hisside's' performances have not reflected their league position this season:I could now have 32 points, but the realistic position is we have 22. We have had chances to score and we didn't. In the end, it's the balance.�