MIDDLESBROUGH are aware of mounting interest in Ashley Fletcher, but Tony Pulis is still to decide whether to loan the striker to one of the club’s Championship rivals.

Pulis has made no secret of his desire to trim the size of his squad this month, with Fletcher one of the fringe players to have been linked with a possible move away from the Riverside.

Sunderland, Norwich City and Barnsley have all expressed an interest in signing the 22-year-old on loan, and Pulis is pondering what to do before the transfer window closes in two weeks’ time.

Boro shelled out £6.5m to sign Fletcher from West Ham in the summer, and chairman Steve Gibson will only be willing to sell the striker if he is able to recoup his outlay. That will be all-but-impossible this month, so if Fletcher is to leave Teesside, it will almost certainly be on loan.

The former Manchester United trainee has played just 39 minutes of Championship football since the end of October, and featured for just 11 minutes since Pulis replaced Garry Monk at the end of last year.

He finds himself behind Rudy Gestede, Britt Assombalonga and Patrick Bamford in the attacking pecking order, but Pulis may feel he could provide some valuable cover if Boro continue to progress in the FA Cup.

However, his departure on loan would free up a place in the squad for a potential arrival, with the new Boro boss monitoring a handful of players as he looks to make a couple of additions ahead of the transfer deadline.

Sunderland and Barnsley could struggle to pay Fletcher’s wages in full, but Norwich would almost certainly be willing to meet Boro’s commitments to the striker for the remainder of the season. The Canaries are in the process of shuffling their attacking resources, with Bristol City having bid £8m for Nelson Oliveira and Derby hoping to tie up a £1.5m deal for Cameron Jerome.

Boro have also fielded inquiries about Adam Forshaw, who did not make the match-day squad for last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham.

Cardiff and Sheffield United are both keen to sign the midfielder, who did not even feature in Sunday’s development team game with Blackburn, which saw Pulis run the rule over a number of his fringe performers. It would appear that Forshaw is destined to leave Teesside this month, although the identity of his next employers remains unclear.

Meanwhile, QPR defender Nedum Onuoha is confident of recording a third straight victory when Boro travel to Loftus Road this weekend.

“Winning two league games in a row is a positive start to 2018 for us,” said Onuoha. “We’re on a nice run now – I think we’ve only lost one in six in the league – and we’ll be heading into the game against Boro in a positive mood.”