Both players made it known when they came to the Riverside they had no intensions of signing.
The impressive 3-0 win over lowly Scunthorpe lifted Middlesbrough to within four points of sixth-placed Swansea, while remaining ten points short of second-placed West Brom.
Goals from Adam Johnson, Rhys Williams and Jeremie Aliadiere secured the win, leaving Strachan beaming at the Riverside for the first time since his appointment in late October.
Gordon Strachan: “I was delighted with the start of the game, I thought we got off to a fantastic start.
“It’s only a result. It’s a crazy league. You saw some of the results on Saturday. We just have to keep going. Our strikers were good in the first half and when your strikers are doing well you’ve got a good chance of doing something.”