VICTOR VALDES has described how he has developed a ‘love’ for Middlesbrough's fans and how he intends to end his first year on Teesside by retaining Premier League status.

The World Cup and Champions League winner has had to endure something a lot different this season compared to his trophy-laden time at Barcelona.

A battle to avoid relegation has been hard for everyone at the club, particularly given how the struggles and behind-the-scenes disagreements led to Aitor Karanka’s departure at the Riverside.

Karanka was the key component of Valdes’ decision to move to Middlesbrough last summer.

And, after eyebrows were initially raised by his introduction to the team ahead of Dimi Konstantopoulos, the experienced Spaniard has been, arguably, the team’s player of the season.

Valdes said: “Staying in the Premier League is the main goal, the only goal, for all of us. I like this club, the atmosphere around it, and I love the fans. I think we deserve to stay in the Premier League and hopefully we can do that.”

In a rare interview – conducted with the club’s website rather than the media – Valdes went onto suggest he has been impressed with Steve Agnew’s approach to the job since succeeding Karanka.

Valdes has a further year remaining on the contract he signed last summer so it will be interesting to see what happens if Middlesbrough are unable to avoid relegation.

He said: “I knew Steve Agnew well already as assistant, but now he is manager and he is showing his own mentality.

“He has a lot of good concepts, especially for the Premier League and English football. I’ve been impressed, not just with him, but the other guys in his team. The most important thing now is our objectives, for the manager, his coaches and his players.”

Middlesbrough are six points shy of safety ahead of the Easter programme and they will be interested observers this weekend before returning to action against Arsenal on Monday night.

Boro have seven matches remaining, currently one more than the teams above them, and this round of games will be another crucial one in the battle to beat the drop.

Valdes said: “Every game now is a final for us, in the position we’re in. We haven’t had the best results but now we have seven games to play and hopefully we can start that with three points.

“I know it’s difficult because we don’t have a lot of games left, and the teams we’re playing against can be dangerous. But our work, our attitude and our objectives will always be the same – win our games and don’t think about the others.”

Middlesbrough’s Julien de Sart, meanwhile, has seen his loan move to Derby turn to frustration. He made ten appearances before Gary Rowett replaced Steve McClaren at the iPro Stadium but has hasn’t played since.

And Rowett explained: “I have spoken to Jules and I was quite open. I said ‘look, you are on loan and I have got to plan with our own players at the moment so you won’t be in the squad. That doesn’t mean you won’t be in the squad moving forward, you will still have the same opportunities as everyone else’.

“I just wanted him to understand that. It is nothing to do with him as a player. He is a good footballer and he has been really good in training. He has got lots and lots of talent, you can see where his strengths lie and some things he would want to improve on as a young player. He has been great.”