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WEST HAM v MIDDLESBROUGH - SOUTHGATE PROMISES GOALS
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is convinced his side will score goals despite the loss of its two most prolific strikers.
There was concern on Teesside when Ayegbeni Yakubu followed Mark Viduka out of the exit door in a £11.25million switch to Everton as the closure of the summer transfer window approached.
The Nigerian and his Australian counterpart, who had earlier left for derby rivals Newcastle after rejecting a new deal at the Riverside Stadium, contributed 35 goals between them last season.
However Southgate, who had already recruited Mido, Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli when Yakubu headed for Merseyside, resisted the temptation to splash out on a direct replacement confident there was enough firepower within his squad.
To date, he has been proven correct with Boro scoring twice in each of their last four games, a run which has seen them collect seven Barclays Premier League points and secure their passage to the Carling Cup third round.
Mido, a £6.8million signing from Tottenham, has already found the target twice and South Korea international Dong-Gook Lee has finally broken his duck, but goals from Lee Cattermole, Julio Arca, Fabio Rochemback, Stewart Downing and David Wheater have supported Southgate's assertion that goals will come from elsewhere in the team.
He said: "I have said all along, I am very relaxed. Somebody will score goals. We will create chances and people will score goals from whatever position on the field that may be.
"I have terrific belief in the players we have. Some of them are unproven in terms of their goalscoring record at this level, but it will come given time.
"They need games, some of them need fitness, but if you had told me this was the squad I would have at the end of the transfer window, then I would have been absolutely delighted."
Boro head for big-spending West Ham on Saturday determined to extend their unbeaten run.
Southgate's side lost 2-0 at Upton Park last season as the Hammers stepped up their unlikely bid for survival with the second of seven victories in their last nine games.
That left the north-east side sitting 12th in the table and far from comfortable with seven games to play, although they eventually stabilised and finished there at the end of a tough campaign.
Successive defeats by Blackburn and Wigan at the start of this season gave rise to disgruntled murmurs on Teesside, although Southgate insists he never lost faith.
He said: "I was very calm about the opening to the season because I knew the way we had worked in pre-season, I knew the people we had brought in.
"We as a coaching staff could see what is happening, the players are starting to see what they are capable of and I certainly believe the supporters have seen what we are trying to do."
By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.
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