MIDDLESBROUGH boss Tony Mowbray has issued a defiant ‘hands-off’ message to Premier League managers flashing the cash at his players.

With the January transfer window only a fortnight away, managers up and down the country will be scouring the divisions to see where they can strengthen their respective squads.

Boro’s high-flying start has caught the attention and a handful of bosses will be thinking how some of their stars can fit into their teams.

The likes of Marvin Emnes (pictured below), Matthew Bates, Joe Bennett and Rhys Williams have had their profiles raised significantly during Boro’s ascent to the top six of the Championship.

However, Mowbray has a promotion campaign to win and selling his top players is not the way to go about achieving this – especially as, unlike twelve months ago, he doesn’t need to.

He said: “We look at strengthening all areas of the team in case people do come and try to ask questions of any of our players. I’m not saying we would sell any. We’re in a reasonably strong position in the league. Why would we lessen our opportunity to continue in a decent run of form?

“All managers have to weigh up these things. If you get a number for a player that you think is excessive of what you think his talent is, you can use that money to strengthen other areas of the pitch.

“But at this moment in time, the phone hasn’t rung with enquiries about any of our players and we have no intention of selling any of them. We are trying to strengthen our team.

“We are in a stronger position from where we were twelve months ago – about £10-12million stronger after selling both David Wheater and Leroy Lita. Financially, the chairman is relatively happy that we didn’t need to move any more out.

“The chairman understands the worth of a football manager and he’s never sold any player over my head without discussing it with me. The quicker we could get to that point financially where we didn’t need to sell, the quicker we could push on.

“There might have been some instances where people did make an offer for a player who we didn’t want to sell. Emnes would have been one. Whether any football club want to buy him, the answer would have been no.”

Should any of Mowbray’s stars be considering a move to a Premier League club should one declare an interest, Mowbray has warned that the grass may not be greener on the other side.

After all, ask former Boro star David Wheater who left last January to join current Premier League strugglers, Bolton Wanderers.

Mowbray added: “With David Wheater, he’s gone to Bolton and he hasn’t exactly lit the place up. He’s not starring in the Premier League every week and Bolton are at the bottom of the league. The grass isn’t always greener.

“I shouldn’t speak for David but maybe he might have preferred to be playing for our team every week at the top end of this division and striving to get into the Premier League.

“That’s an example for some of our players being linked to other clubs that where they are might now be the worst place to be if we did go up to the Premier League. This is a place where we appreciate you and know your talents and if you’ve grown up in this town and with this club, it’s very fulfilling to achieve something here.”

On the other hand, Mowbray himself will be looking to see if their are players elsewhere who he feels could add to his squad – particularly in the striking department.

He continued: “We look at all areas. That’s our job to see if we can strengthen all departments. But you need to know where you are going to spend your money. You need to know where you’re going to strengthen your team. I think the priority at this moment is strikers. The statistics are right there in front of your face in terms of how many goals we’ve scored.

“You need a different option in order to break up the pattern of a game.

“If it’s looking like a nil-nil after an hour and it’s looking like you can’t break through the opposition because they’re very well organised with two midfield players sitting in front of the defence, you stick on a big man at six foot four and start throwing in balls over their defence. We don’t have that option at the moment so we might go for some physicality.”