Middlesbrough Football Club

• Nickname:Boro
• Founded:1876
• Manager:Tony Mowbray

• Ground:Riverside Stadium
• Capacity:35049

Boro rubbish Downing talk

10 Jan 2008 - 16:20:18

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Middlesbrough have rubbished fresh reports linking winger Stewart Downing with a transfer window departure.

Boro chief executive Keith Lamb has denied claims that the England winger could be on his way out of the Riverside Stadium with Tottenham Hotspur and Everton believed to be interested.

Downing is the struggling club's top-scorer, having found the net five times in all competitions this season.

"We have had absolutely no contact from Tottenham or any other club about Stewart," he told the Evening Gazette.

Meanwhile, Lamb has also played down talk of a move for a new striker in the January window.

Unsettled Spurs striker Jermain Defoe and Heerenveen's Brazilian hitman Afonso Alves have both been linked with possible moves to the Riverside Stadium.

However, Lamb insists talk of a swoop for Defoe in particular are wide of the mark.

He added: "I don't usually comment on stories like this, but I have had no contact with Tottenham about Jermain Defoe, or Stewart Downing, or Jonathan Woodgate," he added.