GARETH Southgate is refusing to settle for an annual fight against relegation as he attempts to drag Middlesbrough into the upper reaches of the Barclays Premier League table.
For the second successive campaign, the Teessiders confirmed their top-flight status on the penultimate weekend when they defeated Portsmouth 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium last Saturday.
However, even victory over Manchester City tomorrow could see
them finish in 13th place at best, and that is way short of the manager's long-term ambitions for the club.
However, while acknowledging that the gap between the big four and the rest of the division is sizeable, he is happy to embrace the challenge of trying to close it.
Southgate said: "At the moment, there is a bit of a split between mini-leagues within the league, but your aim as a club and as a manager is to try to bridge that gap.
"I refuse to accept that we have to be in the sort of area we are in the table now forever.
"You have to strive to compete with the very best. Of course, the top teams, because the continually qualify for the Champions League, continue to have more funds, and that can make them stronger.
"But we have to be clever in the way that we recruit. It is about getting the right people at your club.
"Sometimes in the modern world, that means paying the highest money - but not always, and that's the challenge for us."
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