Boro Euro dreams are still alive - Juninho

World Cup winner Juninho has urged his Middlesbrough team-mates not to give up on Europe just yet.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who is currently back in South America battling his way back to fitness following knee surgery, has seen the Teessiders slip off the pace in the race for European qualification.

But he remains confident that their chance of a top-six finish has not gone, and is backing them to mount a late challenge.

Boro have been dumped out of both domestic cup competitions and have slipped into the bottom half of the Premiership table after a poor run of form away from home which has seen them lose each of their last nine games on the road.

But they remain unbeaten at the Riverside Stadium following Saturday’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit against Southampton, and Juninho believes that resilience could provide the basis for an improved return on their travels.

“Of course it’s disappointing to be out of the two cups, but now we’ve got to concentrate and do our best to get our league form right,” he said.

“We still have a chance of being in Europe next year and we have to keep going.”

Juninho made a major impact during the first of his three spells at Boro, helping to get his side to the finals of both domestic cup competitions in 1997, but he headed for Spain after they were relegated to Division One at the end of the same campaign.

And although his form during a brief return on loan from Atletico Madrid under Bryan Robson during the 1999-2000 season was less than impressive as he struggled for full fitness, his influence during Brazil’s glorious World Cup campaign last summer persuaded the Teessiders to make their move.

“We brought him here because we believed he would give us that little bit extra that would win us football matches,” manager Steve McClaren told the club’s official website, www.mfc.co.uk.

“We haven’t missed him because we’ve never had him, but looking at the team as it performs, we can see him fitting in very well, and it’s an exciting prospect that he will be back before the end of the season.

“We can’t wait to have him on the training field with us.”

Juninho is due back in England later this month, and he may well find a few new faces and one or two familiar ones missing on his return.

Boro were today still awaiting news of their bid to take Derby duo Chris Riggott and Malcolm Christie on loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.

The cash-strapped Rams, who at one point last summer quoted Boro £9m (€13.7m) for Christie alone, have reportedly placed a value of around £3m (€4.62m) on the pair, although that price could spark something of a bidding war.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock appears to be cooling on a permanent move for Dean Windass after learning that Boro will want a fee for him should the Blades win promotion.

“Neil was some way down the line to getting him, but Middlesbrough wanted a sizeable fee for him should we get promoted,” said club spokesman Andy Pack.

“But we would not be prepared to pay a fee and if the deal doesn’t happen this week, Neil will probably look elsewhere.”