The 26-year-old Turkey international has made a major impact since his return from injury, and is confident there is more to come from Gareth Southgate's side after their recovery from a 5-0 drubbing by Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium last month.
Boro have finished in the top half of the Barclays Premier League table only twice before and that is a situation the manager and his players are determined to address.

Tuncay said: "It's still early days to make such important predictions, but as a whole team our morale is great.

"I'm extremely happy to be here and I do believe this is going to be a different season for us.

"Although we had a few bad matches at the beginning of the season, I'm sure we will perform better.

"The players really want to do well for the team. They are very determined as individuals and as a whole team and I'm sure we are going to progress.

"If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't say so - I genuinely believe we are making progress.

"Since the Chelsea defeat, we have gained five points in the next three games, which is the biggest indication of how determined our players were.

"It's not just my opinion - our manager and the rest of our players themselves genuinely do believe we will take our place in the top 10 this year."

SEE Friday's Mail for full story