SHELL-shocked boss Tony Mowbray is in a race against time to sign a stop-gap shot-stopper before Middlesbrough’s basement battle with Derby tomorrow.

The troubled Teessiders were plunged back into Championship relegation danger after a humiliating 5-2 rout at rampant Reading, which saw first-choice keeper Jason Steele limp off with what is feared to be a torn muscle in his side.

Teenage debutant Connor Ripley – son of former Ayresome Park hero and one time England international winger Stuart – came off the bench just before the break and made some good saves in a torrid first-team bow, but leaked three goals in a nightmare one-sided drubbing.

England Under-21 man Steele faces several weeks out and with veteran Danny Coyne still in rehab after groin surgery, Mowbray doesn’t have another professional keeper to call on.

And he admitted that he would be spending the weekend on the phone trying to bring in an emergency loan signing before the Riverside clash with relegation rivals Derby.

“We have to address it quickly,” he admitted. “We’ll be looking at who is available and making a lot of calls to try and do something and we need to do it quickly.

“We will assess the extent of the damage to Jason and how long it’s going to stop him playing, but it looks like a muscle tear in his side. He’s in a lot of pain and discomfort.

“Connor is a confident boy and he has all the attributes to make a good keeper in the years to come, but in an ideal world we wouldn’t want him on the pitch for the first team just yet.

“When he came on he did fine. He made a few good saves and the result could have been far worse than it was. No one is pointing the finger at him for any of the goals.

“But with Jason and Danny out we don’t have another keeper at the club. We have a few schoolboys who come in to the Academy, but we don’t have another professional keeper to call on at the club so we will have to bring in someone on loan.”

Mowbray could be forgiven for wanting to bring in an entire new back five on loan after his inexperienced defence imploded under pressure at Reading.