MICHAEL CARRICK has confirmed that Middlesbrough remain active in the transfer market, but the Boro boss refused to be drawn on the club’s ongoing pursuit of Bristol City forward Tommy Conway.

Boro have tabled a bid of around £5m for the 21-year-old, who has just entered the final year of his contract at Ashton Gate.

Talks are understood to be ongoing between Boro officials and the hierarchy at Bristol City, with a deal having moved closer over the course of the last few days.

Conway, a full Scotland international who first joined Bristol City’s academy at the age of seven, is set to join Emmanuel Latte Lath and Josh Coburn in Boro’s attacking ranks, and while Carrick did not want to discuss the specifics of the ongoing discussions, he confirmed the club’s desire to add to the squad before the closure of the transfer window.

“I can’t really say anything on that,” said Carrick, when asked directly about the Conway talks. “We’ve had a lot of names linked, to be honest, and at this stage, you know me, I’m not going to talk about it.

“We’ve got a really good squad. We feel like we’ve got a good, balanced squad at the moment, so we’re not desperately, desperately needing anything major.

“That said though, there’s always something happening, and we’ll be looking to add to the squad for sure. But at this stage, I haven’t got any more information to give.”

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Carrick watched Boro continue their pre-season preparations with a goalless draw at League Two side Harrogate Town this evening.

The Teessiders struggled to create clear-cut chances at Wetherby Road, with Harrogate defending in a deep-lying low block, but while Carrick was slightly frustrated at the way in which the friendly panned out, he was happy to get some much-needed match minutes into some of his squad members who were not involved in the weekend win over Doncaster Rovers.

“It’s about getting minutes and game time for the boys,” said the Boro boss. “Now we’re at a place where the whole of the squad has had similar minutes really, and everyone is ready to play.

“That was the whole reason for tonight, to balance things off, and the boys got a lot of minutes in. With the type of game it was, it was a bit frustrating really.

“Credit to them for defending well. The result is the result, and the game is the game. Everyone came through it well and got valuable minutes, and that was the main thing really.”