Lamb confident of new Downing deal

The 23-year-old's future with his home town club came under the spotlight during the January transfer window amid a row between his agent Ian Elliott and chairman Steve Gibson after he had rejected Boro's initial offer to extend his current deal.

But speaking at a BBC Radio Tees fans' forum, Lamb said: "I am very confident that we will reach agreement sooner rather than later."

He added: "It is something that myself and Steve Gibson have been very conscious of and have been working at over the last couple of weeks.

"I would not like to put a date on it, but I would hope that within the next four to six weeks, we get a solution to it that's acceptable to Stewart and to the football club, and then we can put it to bed and Stewart can concentrate on playing his football."

England international Downing, who has more than two years remaining on his current contract, had been linked with both Tottenham and Everton as initial talks stalled.

But no official offer materialised and Elliott suggested the player could see out the rest of his deal before leaving on a free transfer.

However, manager Gareth Southgate has made no secret of his desire to retain the services of his former team-mate and is hopeful that a breakthrough is imminent.

He said: "From Stewart's point of view, he knows how much every department of the club wants him to stay, he is very, very settled in his mind he wants to play his football here and he is an incredibly valuable part of the team."