MIDDLESBROUGH'S Dean Gordon will join Cardiff City today on a month's loan after being told he has no future at the Riverside.

The surprise move to the ambitious Second Division club follows six days of negotiations and Gordon is keen to make the most of his chance of first-team football.

The 28-year-old, who has not been involved in any of Boro's games this season, knows he has taken a big step down but sees it as a great opportunity.

"I know this will be seen by many as a huge step back," said Gordon, signed for £900,000 in 1998 by Bryan Robson.

"But I see this as a great chance for me to get out there and prove to people that I can still do it.

"I have had a couple of talks with the manager (Steve McClaren) and I know I'm not in his plans.

"There will be plenty of scouts coming to watch Cardiff because they are hugely ambitious and are keen to go up. I will be looking to impress them - I know I'm still a Premier League player."

Gordon has been plagued with injury problems over the past few seasons and, after coming through a series of knee operations, he returned six weeks ago from a thigh strain.

The arrival of Frenchman Franck Queudrue and McClaren's decision to opt for Colin Cooper on the left has seen Gordon playing in the reserves.

And now the former England Under-21 international, who admits there is only a slim chance of him making a permanent switch to Ninian Park, is desperate to prove a few people wrong.

"I was out for a while with a thigh strain and that was annoying," said Gordon, who will train with Alan Cork's Bluebirds this morning. "But I don't feel I have been given much of a chance under the new manager.

"I know when I was out the gaffer had been looking to bring in someone but when I returned I felt I should have been given a chance."

Gordon, who will make his first appearance at Notts County on Saturday, is the latest Boro star to leave Teesside in the space of a week.

Steve Vickers and Curtis Fleming have joined Birmingham, Mark Summerbell is on trial at Stockport and Steve Baker has gone to Scarborough, while striker Brian Deane could still complete a £500,000 move to Leicester City.

* Boro reserves went down 3-0 at Bolton last night as goals from Zawa, former Bishop Auckland star Geoff Smith and Dean Holdsworth gave the Trotters a comfortable win. Boro: Beresford, Close, Bernhardt, Hudson, Gavin, Festa, Wilson, Stamp, Job, Kilgannon. Subs Not Used: Downing, Russell, Gulliver, Cade, Dove, Storey

Read more about the Boro here.