As the Championship basement battle hots up a lot could depend on reinforcements in January.

And that doesn’t just apply to Boro. The rest of the bottom six will also be acutely aware of the need to strengthen.

Shoring things up at the back, adding a bit of firepower or just bringing in a battle-scarred older head could make all the difference in the second half of the season.

Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate has admitted his thin squad needs beefing up in key areas, especially at the sharp end.

But he has also sounded a note of caution and warned that the mid-season market is problematic.

Teams do not want to sell their most effective players so there is a steep premium on the price to prise them away while the ones who are available may not be up to speed and struggle to make an immediate impact.

“January is always a notorious window anyway, no matter what position you are in,” he said. “But it is harder to get the players you want if you are in a poor position. Some players won’t fancy a move to a relegation battle.

Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate

“But I want to make additions, of course I do. The right ones. If we can. I hope so.

“We definitely need something, we need extra bodies and extra players, that’s without a shadow of a doubt.

“We need that and hopefully we will get that.”

But what about Boro’s rivals in the danger-zone? What noises are they making about January?

We’ve taken the transfer temperature of the rest with a quick appraisal of their own issues going into a crucial window.

BARNSLEY

A new boss may be in place but there is not much optimism around Oakwell that January will bring investment.

Daniel Stendel was axed in early October with assistant Adam Murray in a caretaker role since then.

Reports in Yorkshire suggest the imminent arrival of Austrian coach Gerhard Struber from Wolfsburger AC.

The former Red Bull Salzburg coach took Wolfsburger to third and a place in the Europa League last term.

But Tykes fans are not hopeful of an influx of cash to back his bid to claw them off the bottom.

Barnsley are owned by an investment group fronted by Chien Lee said to be worth £6.9b yet there was no sign of that muscle in a very prudent summer window after promotion.

Cauley Woodrow scores

They not only failed to strengthen but actually sold off some key members of the promotion side.

Striker Kieffer Moore was flogged to Wigan, defender Ethan Pinnock went to Brentford and keeper Adam Davies is sitting on Stoke’s bench - although hitman Cauley Woodrow’s loan from Fulham was made permanent and he has scored six in a struggling side.

So far there has been radio silence from Barnsley top brass whether the new boss will have any leeway to make additions.

STOKE CITY

New boss Michael O’Neill will have until January to assess his squad before he decides on strengthening - although he may have to sell before he can buy.

Stoke have spent heavily on fees and wages in the two summers since relegation and still have a bloated Premier League wage bill. The squad is big. “Probably too big if I’m honest,” said O’Neill when he was unveiled.

Meanwhile they failed to flog some big ticket players like Jack Butland last summer while next year while will be their final parachute payment so the Financial Fair Play walls are fast closing in.

Michael O’Neill

There are suggestions that £14m flop Senegalese midfielder Badou Ndiaye could be the first to leave - if they can find a buyer - with injury dogged Nigerian Peter Etebo also up for grabs.

Stoke themselves are looking for a left-back and, like Boro, are desperate for goals having bagged just 17 in 16 games.

They, along with Boro, have been heavily linked with £2m Aberdeen striker Sam Cosgrove with the new boss said to be “a massive fan.”

LUTON TOWN

Boss Graeme Jones needs to strengthen after four defeats on the spin but knows he will probably be limited to loans.

The newly promoted Hatters have only recently stabilised financially after a traumatic decade and the board run a tight ship.

On the plus side, he has had a good look at his squad since promotion and knows what the task is.

“I’m in a privileged position now where I’ve seen every single one of our players play Championship football and I know everybody’s capabilities,” he said. “I know what the league is. I’m very, very clear where we are and what has to be done.

Luton boss Graeme Jones on his debut against Middlesbrough

“We’ve got to negotiate six weeks first. I’m not a fool, I know the game, I don’t kid myself, but if we do well enough to get to the January transfer window, we’ll need to be stronger.”

In the summer he signed tricky Chelsea schemer Izzy Brown plus Aston Villa’s James Bree and Manchester City youngster Luke Bolton on loan.

“We can’t spend five million pounds on someone who’s played 150 games in the Championship, so they’re learning in our first team,” he said. “That’s where we are in the market, I knew the script when we came in.”

WIGAN ATHLETIC

Any plans Wigan boss Paul Cook has been mulling over may be impacted by the moving of the financial furniture.

Hong Kong based owners International Entertainment Corporation have announced their intention to move the football club to  an investment fund owned by chairman Stanley Choi.

The development, a year on from IEC taking control from the Whelan family, is ‘not expected to result in significant changes to the day-to-day running of the club’ but there is a one-month due diligence period now underway.

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And there is no indication that the changes will mean any extra money into the transfer kitty.

Wigan spent relatively heavily in the summer anyway with striker Kieffer Moore signing from Barnsley for around £2.4m, winger Jamal Lowe, linked with Boro, moving from Portsmouth for around the same and left-back Antonee Robinson switching from Everton for around £2m. There would not be much more in the pot anyway.

Wigan have also recently tied teenage hotshot Joe Gelhardt to a new five year deal with a host of Premier League clubs sniffing around - although that doesn’t mean he still couldn’t be lured away.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN

January could signal a new direction for the Terriers as boss Danny Cowley gets to work reshaping the squad.

New boss Danny Cowley has revealed that the club are ‘working hard to try to change’ the transfer model at the club, reduce the wage bill and bring in younger, hungrier players. That should strike a chord with Boro fans.

Meanwhile head of football operations David Webb hinted that Town may look to shift some Premier League wage earners and look to bring in top flight loanees as the Terriers try to rebalance the club.

Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley

Webb told BBC Radio Leeds‘ last week: “Webb said: “There’s always going to be that transition where players might see their career paths or their journey somewhere else, i.e. back to the Premier League or the Bundesliga or La Liga etc.

“When you’ve got the Premier League and an abundance of talent in the under-23s or players on the fringes of teams and not quite getting games, we’ll look to get out and develop those players.”

And Nicky Cowley, the boss’s brother and right hand man added: “It’s really important for us to recruit the right people. We want to bring the right characters to the football club.

“If we can get people who are aligned with the staff and Danny and myself, then that’ll help us moving forward.”

The first developments could be exits though with Kosovan defender Florent Hadergjonaj linked with clubs in Turkey and Italy and Aaron Mooy mooted to make his loan to Brighton a permanent move.