Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray has attempted to draw himself away from speculation linking Liverpool winger Stewart Downing to the Championship club.

The England international, who started his career at the Riverside Stadium, has been linked with a loan move back to his former club.

"I have to say it's just a rumour," Mowbray told BBC Tees. "It would be wrong for me to talk about a player at another club. If I was Brendan Rodgers I wouldn't want Tony Mowbray to be talking about one of my players.

"Stewart is a Middlesbrough lad which is why it has created an interest, he started his career here. But yet he moved for £20m and the salary and everything that goes with it, it's not something to discuss at the moment."

The deadline for loan deals in the Football League is today.