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Josh Coburn loan move to Pools ruled out as club end chase for Boro youngsters

Boro striker Josh Coburn celebrates his goal against Peterborough United.
Boro striker Josh Coburn celebrates his goal against Peterborough United.

MIDDLESBROUGH striker Josh Coburn will not be heading to Hartlepool United on loan with manager Graeme Lee effectively ruling out any more moves for Boro youngsters.

The former Under-23’s manager at Boro said at the start of the month he will attempt to touch base with his former employers over the possibility of brining in players on loan this month with striker Coburn being one of the names mentioned.

The 19-year-old has burst into the Boro first-team in the last year. He's scored three goals in four starts this season, making 11 appearances in total.

The club completed the loan signing of attacking midfielder Isaac Fletcher from the Teessiders yesterday. Talks have taken place between Boro and Pools regarding a loan move this month with Boro boss Chris Wilder bringing in a number of attacking players including Aaron Connolly and Folarin Balogun.

While Lee was hopeful of bringing in Coburn for a loan this month, he says it won’t happen. Even though for a split second, he thought it would.

Lee said: “Josh is still impacting the first-team at the moment.

“Josh messaged me yesterday just to congratulate just to say well done on the game. And he said just to reinforce that he wasn’t allowed to go on loan. Unfortunately, I read it the wrong way and thought he was telling he was allowed to go on loan!

“Five minutes of excitement until he corrected me on his message. Josh is obviously impacting the first-team at Middlesbrough and hopefully he continues to do that.”

The transfer market has been a difficult one for clubs, especially in the early part of the window.

A surge in Covid cases along with teams suffering from mounting injuries due to the hectic fixture schedule have forced clubs to keep hold of their players as insurance policies.

Pools have fell victim to that and have had to be patient in the market. However, they are hopeful of making one or two more signings before the weekend’s trip to Exeter with three in total.

Boro are riding the crest of a wave in form as they look to mount a Premier League promotion push. A recent upturn in form sees them sitting outside the Championship play-offs.

While it’s been difficult to bring players in, Lee maintains he’s had fruitful conversations with his former employers and understands their situation. It’s now unlikely that Pools will sign anymore Boro youngsters before next week’s deadline.

Lee added: “We’ve been fortunate that Middlesbrough have let us get Fletch because all the way through, they’ve been adamant that they are going to keep their players in house.

“We’re fortunate and thankful that they have allowed us to get Fletch.

“I’ve spoken more with Craig Liddle and the coaching staff. Lee Turnbull, who knows Chris (Wilder) from the Sheffield days.

“They’ve been helpful. They want to help us when they can. It’s just at the moment with the situation, they wanted to keep people in and stay strong themselves.

“Obviously they are pushing and trying to get in the Premier League so you can understand why.”