ONE of the biggest surprises Gordon Strachan had in his first few days as Middlesbrough manager was not the lack of strikers he had inherited or the size of his squad, just the amount of singletons he had at his disposal.

Having spent the last few years reducing the average age of the squad, Boro have entered into the Championship with one of the youngest squads in the division this season.

With an average of just over 23 when Strachan first took over from Gareth Southgate, the new manager quickly made a point of targeting players capable of bringing in much-needed experience.

And while he might have followed up the acquisition of 31-year-old Marcus Bent with young professional Isaiah Osbourne, 21, Strachan is still in search of more players who have more than just appearances behind them.

“Emanuel Pogatetz is one of only three players in the squad that are married (the others are Chris Riggott and Gary O’Neil), which is quite unbelievable, in a world that should be for men,” said Strachan.

“I have never come across that in my life. That’s how young we are.

“I’m not saying you have to be married to be a good footballer.

I’m just saying it felt strange to come to a club where there are only three members of the first team squad that are married. You need responsibility in life. I’m not going about finding wives for them, it was just a shock to me.”

While Pogatetz’s marital status is unlikely to have come into Strachan’s thinking when he picked his team for last Saturday’s visit of Plymouth, the Austrian international’s experience was the main reason for his inclusion at the expense of Joe Bennett.

But with Pogatetz sidelined this week, and likely to be missing for at least four more, with a fractured cheekbone, Strachan knows there will still be a more youthful feel to his squad at C r y s t a l P a l a c e today than he would prefer.

He has been working feverishly on bringing in new faces since taking over 12 days ago, but has found that many of the clubs he has been in contact with have not been willing to do deals for those he has been interested in.

Despite the arrival of Aston Villa midfielder Osbourne on Thursday, Strachan still hopes to add a right-midfielder to his ranks, as well as another striker. Preferably with experience, which is now the key.

“Every club has to be active in the transfer market,”

said the former Celtic boss. “You are always active. Every manager looks to strengthen every area in the team.

You have to plan for a long time ahead.”

Despite losing his first game in charge last weekend, Strachan was encouraged by many aspects of his team’s display. He has also leapt to the defence of young captain David Wheater, who is trying hard to recapture the form that earned him England recognition a couple of summers ago.

Wheater was out-muscled by Plymouth’s Jamie Mackie in the build up to Argyle’s winner at the Riverside Stadium seven days ago, but Strachan remains a huge admirer of the centre-backs talents.

“David is a top player,”

said Strachan. “It depends who has been criticising him, if their opinion is n o t w o r t h t a l k i n g about, we will not talk about it.

If it’s someone with good football knowledge we will take it on board.

“If they don’t have that, the only person he has to keep happy are myself and his team-mates. We are more than happy to have David in my team every week. To get the best out of players, you have to be treated right. He is a top player.”