NEIL WARNOCK is confident Middlesbrough will improve on this season’s tenth-placed finish next term – after admitting his side had secured a top-ten spot “without really having a striker”.

Boro suffered a bitterly disappointing end to the campaign as they lost 3-0 to Wycombe this afternoon, but having only avoided relegation on the final day of last season, Warnock nevertheless feels that progress has been made.

His major frustration over the last nine months has been the lack of a goalscoring threat in the final third, with Duncan Watmore finishing the campaign as Boro’s leading scorer with nine goals.

Watmore did not even sign for the club until November, but still outperformed Britt Assombalonga, Ashley Fletcher and Chuba Akpom in front of goal.

Warnock said: ““I’m not going to knock them today. We were poor today, but overall, to finish tenth after where we were when we came in, I think it’s been a fabulous achievement.

“I think they’ve really done their best. You could see the limitations today, and you could see the players that were missing. We have to look forward now.

“I haven’t got to think about today, really. To finish tenth, I’m delighted. Now, we just need a bit of luck with the recruitment, and with the players coming back from injury.

“If that all goes well, we’ll have a very good chance of finishing higher than tenth next season. I don’t think you can promise anything because I don’t think anybody knows what your recruitment will be.

“We’ll need a bit of luck. I don’t think I’m being disrespectful to the lads that have been here, but we’ve finished tenth without really having a striker this season.

“In any league, it’s extremely hard to finish high without a striker. I think Britt and Ash would have been disappointed with the outcome. I’m talking about ten goals a season minimum, and I think there’s only really Duncan that’s come up trumps for us.”