GARETH SOUTHGATE says the goals will soon flow again for Afonso Alves, but in the meantime he's delighted with the way Jeremie Aliadiere deputised up front.

Brazilian striker Alves was taken out of the firing line against Arsenal after a barren spell, the first time he has not played some part in a Premier League game this season. The move allowed former Gunners man Aliadiere to switch to a central role and grab Boro's equaliser.

Both players have struggled in front of goal at times since joining Boro but they have outstanding striking pedigrees and the manager says the only thing they sometimes lack is belief. 

"With Afonso we have to somehow get him back up to speed and get his confidence back," he said.

"You can do that by leaving him in the side, which we've tried to do, but unfortunately it's not happened over the last few weeks.

"So we maybe take a step back and have a breather and he'll be ready to go again soon.

"He's having a spell where he's not hitting the back of the net, although in some of those games we haven't created enough chances."

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Southgate says Alves' record transfer fee does not concern him and should not bring any added pressure to perform.

"Price tags are decisions made above the level I'm at. What we need is to get him back up to speed and scoring goals again and that will come for him. We've signed Tuncay for nothing and he'll prove to be worth goodness knows how much."

Like Alves, Aliadiere has at times struggled to score the goals to match his impressive performances since joining Boro and this season he had been used primarily as a wide player.

"I think Jeremie's contribution was phenomenal, he earned his goal and I was delighted with him," said Southgate.

"I know the way Jeremie works if I would be able to play the system I wanted to, with Tuncay a bit deeper.

"I think he can score more goals, although to be fair he has being playing on the right of midfield so he hasn't had the same number of chances he would get up front.

"What position he plays is something I don't think is too important to him, as long as he is in the team.

"But in my opinion he is an excellent player, though maybe he needs to believe in himself a bit more.

"Clearly he enjoys playing against Arsenal. With the quality of the goals he has scored for us and the quality of the opposition he has scored them against, he has shown us that he is capable of scoring more."