The Teessiders have a huge wage bill by npower Championship standards and will look to reduce that significantly during the summer as they prepare for a third successive campaign outside the top flight.

However, Gibson insists there is no truth in the suggestion that the club is in financial difficulties.

He told the Evening Gazette: "I don't know where these stories come from. It's all nonsense.

"People who spread these rumours are no friends of Middlesbrough Football Club.

"But most people in the town are fantastic and they are behind the club and they enjoy being a part of things. I can tell them that there is absolutely no substance to the stories that they have heard."

That said, Gibson did admit that expenditure on wages will be addressed during the close-season as the club attempts to reduce it to a more realistic level.

He said: "What we do have is a huge wage bill, and that's something we are dealing with.

"Until the arrival of [manager] Tony Mowbray, we were not getting a return on the pitch from the wage bill.

"But our wage bill is unsustainable at any level. Our wage bill is bigger than the combined wage bills of the top two clubs in this league.

"But it's not about how big your wage bill is, it's about getting value for money from your wage bill. We are 18th in the Championship and that's why this situation can't continue."