GORDON Strachan will step up his search for a striker this week after admitting that Marcus Bent is not the longterm solution to Middlesbrough’s lack of firepower.

Bent signed a 16-day extension to his loan deal from Birmingham City last week, enabling him to play in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round defeat to Manchester City and the forthcoming Championship matches against Swansea and Sheffield United.

However, Strachan has admitted that the 31-year-old is effectively doing Boro “a favour” by agreeing to remain at the Riverside, and neither party anticipates a permanent transfer this month.

As a result, Strachan is looking elsewhere, and the Scotsman is ready to return to his former employers at Celtic to lodge a formal offer for Scott McDonald.

Strachan, who is also interested in Celtic defensive duo Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus, regards 26-year-old McDonald as an ideal fit for Championship football, but it remains to be seen whether Boro can stretch to Celtic’s anticipated asking price.

The Bhoys could demand around £5m for McDonald’s services, and it is extremely unlikely that Boro could justify such a fee, despite a saving of around £2m following Sean St Ledger’s return to Preston.

They could face competition from Wigan Athletic, who tried to sign McDonald on loan during the last transfer window, so Strachan is also looking elsewhere in an attempt to bolster a strike force that has been shorn of former loanee Dave Kitson and the injured Jeremie Aliadiere in recent weeks.

The Boro boss is monitoring James Beattie’s situation at Stoke City, and is also understood to be interested in Birmingham veteran Kevin Phillips, who made a rare start in his side’s goalless FA Cup draw with Nottingham Forest this weekend.

Sunderland reserve David Healy could also emerge as a surprise target after he outlined his desire to leave the Stadium of Light last week.

“We need to make signings because it’s not often you get a situation, at a good club, where you have to ask someone to come back for two weeks to do you a favour,” said Strachan. “That doesn’t happen at too many clubs, but that’s where we are at the moment with Marcus.

“It’s also unfortunate that I have to ask a 16-year-old (Luke Williams) to come on and help us out. We need to do something.

We need new bodies because I can’t keep pushing these young ones too early in their career.

“I’d like permanent signings, so I’ve spoken to Marcus and explained that we are looking in other directions at the moment.

“He’s done us a massive favour by coming back though because it’s easy to see where we are as a club at the moment.”

Strachan will also spend the next month fending off interest in winger Adam Johnson, with Boro adamant the England Under-21 international will not be leaving despite his current contract expiring at the end of the season.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce confirmed his admiration for Johnson over the weekend – “Johnson is a player we have looked at. We are aware of his situation” – and while the Black Cats are expected to resist the temptation to make a formal offer until the summer, Everton and Tottenham have both been monitoring the Easington- born youngster closely over recent months.

They are unlikely to be able to watch him at first hand for the next couple of weekends, though, as Saturday’s recurrence of a long-standing hamstring problem is likely to keep him out of Boro’s next two Championship matches.

Johnson will have tests this morning to ascertain the extent of the damage, but after making a rapid recovery in order to take part in the Christmas programme, it is likely that a more extended period of rest will be recommended if the latest problem is deemed to be serious.

Strachan said: “He actually got fouled when he was going for the ball, but he relaxed his body and went again. That was a pity because, just before that, he went past two players as if they weren’t there.

“It’s always a shame when your best player gets injured, and even more so when your best player has had a couple of injuries in the last month or so.”