The gap in Middlesbrough's fixture list offers the perfect time to make preparations for the summer ahead.

The Teessiders are currently well positioned to avoid relegation, but being just two points from the drop zone with nine games to go means that there's work still to be done.

Many supporters will have been hoping to higher up the table but that just hasn't looked viable at any point through the season.

Excluding a brief upturn at the end of 2019, Middlesbrough haven't shown the kind of consistency that would see them push for the top half of the table and beyond.

The hope is that next season the club will be looking to establish themselves in the upper echelons of the table, but for that to happen it's likely that new additions will be needed.

But who could Middlesbrough look to sign? We look at two January targets who the Teessiders may be looking to dodge this summer.

Reece Oxford

He burst onto the scene with West Ham United at the age of 16, but things haven't quite worked out for Reece Oxford since then.

Currently with Augsburg in Germany, the 21-year-old is very much on the periphery of their plans, meaning that he could be allowed to leave the club in the summer.

Middlesbrough were linked with a move on January, but given his inability to settle anywhere that he's been it could be a move that is seen as too much of a gamble.

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Aiden McGeady

Middlesbrough were linked with a move for the Sunderland man in the January transfer window after his fallout with Phil Parkinson at the Stadium Of Light.

Now with Charlton Athletic, things haven't quite worked out for the experienced winger.

McGeady has one year left on his deal with the Black Cats and is likely to be on the move this summer, but given his lack of form and his expected contract demands it's probably one for Middlesbrough to avoid.