Middlesbrough's Alen Boksic yesterday revealed he may quit international football following the resignation of Croatia coach Miroslav Blazevic.

The 30-year-old striker could follow the example of Alan Shearer, who ended his England career in the summer at the same age.

"There needs to be a lot of thinking done before I accept any call from the new coach," he said. "The situation is now different."

Boksic scored the goal against Scotland in a 1-1 World Cup qualifier two weeks ago in Zagreb but was later carried off with injuries to his face and ribs.

The £2.5million frontman has won over 50 caps and has stressed the importance of this World Cup campaign to his country following their failure to reach Euro 2000.

But the departure of Blazevic, together with the early-season problems at Middlesbrough where he signed a lucrative four-year contract, have affected his thinking.

Boksic has scored five goals for Boro but has also missed games through injury and may be ready to accept that the dual demands of international and Premiership football are too great.

Certainly under-pressure manager Bryan Robson would be delighted if Boksic focused all his attention on helping the club climb away from the lower reaches of the league.

Currently receiving treatment for knee ligament damage, Boksic and is rated only '50-50' for the game at Ipswich tomorrow.

Boro will also be without £8m centre-back Ugo Ehiogu and skipper Paul Ince at Portman Road.

Ince was detained in hospital yesterday for a fourth day after an operation to clear up a knee infection.

The midfielder had surgery on Monday after reporting for training with a swollen knee and has been kept in for observation.

"The doctor sent Paul straight to hospital and that is the good part, because the situation could have been much worse," said Robson.

There were fears Ince had contracted blood poisoning after an old cut re-opened at Charlton on Saturday. "We don't know how long he will be missing but the main thing is to make sure he is OK," added Robson.

The Boro boss yesterday confirmed he has declined to go ahead with a £1m move for Australia defender Simon Colosimo.

"We will be monitoring him in future games but nothing will happen at the moment," he said.

Colosimo has been linked with other Premiership clubs but is likely to move to the continent.

Meanwhile Boro defender Colin Cooper issued a rallying cry last night to help put the club back on the right track after their recent misfortune.

The 33-year-old is also urging fans to be patient with French star Christian Karembeu, who has struggled to show his best form recently.

"No one wins European Championship and World Cup winners medals without being a quality player and that's what Christian is," said Cooper. "He is not here for the money or to take it easy.

"He wants to do well and help the club do well. You can tell that from the way he is.

"He is a genuine nice guy and has settled right in with the lads in the dressing room.

"Maybe he hasn't been played as well as he can be recently, but who has? Everyone can have an off day and I have no doubt that Christian will start to show what he can do.

"I can understand the fans frustration, but I hope they will be just a bit more patient and hopefully things will start to come good again.

"We all want to win things and that's what we are aiming to do.

"We are not having the best of luck at the moment, but we are all pulling together to get it right and hopefully we can.