MALCOLM CHRISTIE is convinced Middlesbrough can help him achieve everything he wants in football.

The Boro striker signed along with Chris Riggott for a combined £3m fee halfway through this season. Christie became an instant hit on Teesside, scoring three goals in his first five starts.

The 24-year-old scored his first goal in four games in the 5-1 drubbing of Tottenham on Saturday - a result which pushed Boro back into the top half of the Premiership table. And Christie believes Boro boss Steve McClaren is the right man to help the club claim their first major piece of silverware in its history.

"When I first joined all I had to do was come here and take a look at all the players around me, the squad is full of internationals," said Christie.

"Hopefully we can go and win something because it's my ambition to win something and I think in the next few years we will. I've joined a manager here who is also a winner and hopefully my ambitions will be realised as well."

Christie also has his eyes on an England call-up in the future.

But the former Under-21 international is not holding his breath for his first cap to come sooner rather than later. That is because he has been left surprised with the way 23-goal striker James Beattie has been snubbed by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"England is not something I'm looking at in the immediate future," he said. "If I'm doing the business over the course of a full season at club level then who knows?

"But as James Beattie at Southampton has found out that's not always the case."

Christie started alongside fellow goalscorer Szilard Nemeth against Spurs. It was the fifth different strike-pairing named by McClaren in as many matches.

And the Boro boss admits he has been experimenting with his front two, although he indicated he has been impressed with the way Christie has settled into life in the North-East.

"We've played around with the first-choice pairing," said McClaren, who also has top-scorer Massimo Maccarone, Joseph-Desire Job and Michael Ricketts vying for a place.

"Christie's come in and done well, but they've all had spells in this season when they've come in and scored goals.

"But we've always had people - when they haven't - to come in and take over the mantle."

And - with just one more game remaining at relegation-haunted Bolton on Sunday - McClaren is hoping to see his front-men score more goals on their travels when the new season starts in August.

"We've scored goals at home," he said. "Two home defeats is a fantastic record. We're looking for next season to progress from that and become a little more consistent - especially away from home."

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