Boro: No early release for Yakubu

Middlesbrough have dismissed fears that £7.5m (€11.1m) striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu could miss up to 14 matches for the African Cup of Nations.

The 23-year-old has been called up by Nigeria for the tournament, which gets underway in Egypt on January 20, although his country has requested that he is available for a month-long preparatory training camp which starts next Tuesday.