Rob Edwards drops clear Middlesbrough transfer hint ft Tommy Conway | OneFootball

Boro are looking to add to their forward line before the end of the window.

Middlesbrough are on the hunt for another centre-forward to give first-choice striker Tommy Conway some extra competition, and to reduce his workload, Rob Edwards has said.

The sales of Emmanuel Latte Lath and Josh Coburn in the last two transfer windows has left the Scottish international as the only true number nine in Boro's ranks.

Conway is yet to get off the mark this season after starting against both Swansea City and Millwall. The 23-year-old, who arrived from Bristol City last summer for a fee of £4.5 million, has played an average of 79 minutes per game across the two fixtures.

He was replaced by Marcus Forss and Delano Burgzorg in those contests, respectively - neither of whom you would think of as classic points of any attack.

Middlesbrough looking to bring in striker competition for Tommy Conway

Due to the workload that is currently being placed on Conway, and, therefore, the general lack of variety that Edwards has to choose from up top, Boro are looking to bring in another centre-forward before the transfer window shuts on 1st September at 7pm.

"He [Conway] puts so much into it," the boss said, via the Northern Echo. "You need to be able to change that - whether it’s 60-30 or whatever way you want to go - maybe it’s even earlier, whatever way you want to go. You need to be able to do that, and maybe someone who has slightly different attributes as well.

"We’re certainly looking at a number of different areas and we understand that we’re probably asking one or two lads to do a bit extra at the moment without much help.

"I think the competition helps. We want a really competitive group, high quality and all pushing each other. I think that will help bring the best out of everyone."

Middlesbrough have to diversify their attack

Conway is more than good enough to lead the line for Boro. In his inaugural campaign for the club last time out, he bagged 13 goals in 36 appearances at a rate of one goal just over every two matches (182 minutes).

Despite being six-foot-one, he's not the biggest threat to defenders aerially. The large majority of his goals come from finishes with his feet. In games where Boro's stereotypical style, prior to Edwards, wasn't working, Conway wasn't a strong option that wingers and full-backs could try to find with crosses.

Logically, then, the Teessiders may look to bring in more of a physical presence up top. But two of the targets that they have been linked with - Cheikh Sabaly of Metz and David Strelec of Slovan Bratislava - are not big, bruising centre-forwards that win a lot of headers and can hold the ball up.

At five-foot-six, Sabaly is certainly a different profile to Conway, and that's the main thing: there is little point in having two strikers who are virtually the same. Boro may as well go for something they haven't already got rather than a replica of their current number nine, regardless of what shape or size it comes in.