Steve McClaren has defended his decision to allow Juninho to leave Middlesbrough. Boro fans are angry the World Cup winner could be on his way to Celtic following the arrival of Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the Riverside in the summer.
McClaren told the club's website, www.mfc.co.uk: "We signed two extra strikers in the summer, which we needed to do. That leaves me with six strikers and we can't play them all. Juninho wants to play football and we realise that. I had a chat with him and told him this will be the situation and that there might not be regular football for him."
"We said that if something came up that he felt and we felt was right, we wouldn't stand in his way. We're very close to knowing a decision now one way or the other. We're trying to get to the next level and with that there are always going to be casualties."
Juninho, 31, has been in talks with Celtic but no deal has been completed yet.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
