Southgate wants to keep Woody

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is hoping Jonathan Woodgate will remain at The Riverside beyond the end of his season-long loan from Real Madrid.

Woodgate was outstanding as the Teessiders staged a rearguard action against Liverpool at Anfield before losing 2-0 as Steven Gerrard bagged a second-half brace.

With the former Leeds United and Newcastle United centre-back's future in doubt, boss Southgate said: "We can only do what we have been doing all season with him. He was excellent against Liverpool and he has enjoyed working with us.

"But he knows the situation, we are not one of the top four and we do not have the resources to compete with those teams. But there will be a lot of change at Middlesbrough in the summer and we hope he wants to be a part of that.

"We speak all the time, and he needs time to think about things. At the moment we are in the middle of a busy period of matches and everyone wants to focus on that, the other side of things will take care of itself."

Southgate is only too aware that his Middlesbrough squad, who are seven points clear of the dreaded bottom three, needs to undergo major surgery in the summer.

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