MIDDLESBROUGH continue to monitor the market for strikers but Michael Carrick says there's no transfer panic and insists he'll be happy with his squad if no further signings arrive before the end of the window.

With Josh Coburn managing an ongoing groin issue and Emmanuel Latte Lath sidelined with an ankle injury, Boro continue to assess potential striker options in the transfer market but - as has been stressed since the start of this month - will only add to their ranks if the right player becomes available.

Notts County's Macauley Langstaff has this week been linked but it's understood the Stockton-born striker isn't a player on Boro's radar this month.

Boro will continue to monitor the market but there's calm inside the club. Even with Coburn and Latte Lath out, there's no concern about a lack of goals. Carrick has a glut of attacking midfield players, and Marcus Forss, Matt Crooks, Morgan Rogers and Sam Greenwood have all played up-front at one stage or another this season. Rogers has now emerged as a leading target for Aston Villa this month, with Boro rejecting an opening bid on Thursday night.

“The same, nothing’s changed really," said Carrick yesterday when asked for an update on Boro's stance on incomings and hopes for the rest of the window.

"Josh is hopefully not too far away at all and we have flexibility in the squad, so the situation is still the same.

"I’m happy with the squad we’ve got. We’ve got options, we’re flexible and we can adapt and tweak certain things, whether that’s systems, certain ways of playing or personnel depending on who we’re playing.

"We’re coming into that phase where we’re able to do that as we get stronger with players coming back fit. We’re trying to keep the players who are fit fresh because they’ve been a big part of it.

"I think we’ve built and we’ve strengthened the group particularly well already, so whatever happens from now will happen. Sometimes it’s in our hands, sometimes it’s not. But at this moment in time, I’m happy with what we’ve got."

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For Carrick, new signings have to tick the relevant boxes off the pitch as well as on it.

He says: "The character is a huge part of it. Obviously we’re a football club so we want good footballers, of course. But good people are important too. We want the right type of person and we do a lot of work on that in our recruitment - it’s one of the first questions we ask."

It emerged this week that new recruit Finn Azaz volunteered on a weekly basis at a hospice in Plymouth during his loan spell with Argyle in the first half of the season.

Carrick said "It doesn’t surprise me to learn that about Finn because he’s a terrific lad. He seems desperate to do well and you can see he’s well-grounded, and that’s a great example of that."