Manager Gareth Southgate had to hurriedly assemble a new-look strike-force after losing first Mark Viduka and then Ayegbeni Yakubu last summer.

He invested heavily in Mido and Jeremie Aliadiere and managed to land Turkey international Tuncay Sanli on a free transfer before the closure of the August window, and has since smashed the club's transfer record to capture £12.7million Brazilian Afonso Alves.

All four men have shown flashes of the talent that persuaded Boro to recruit them, but both Southgate and Cooper believe the fans have so far seen only a fraction of what all four men can do.

Cooper said: "The likes of Tuncay and Jeremie Aliadiere have done a terrific job for the team this season.

"Hopefully with those two and Afonso - and hopefully we will get big Mido back over the summer - we will go into the new season with four strikers who want to do well for this club and want to prove themselves in this league.

"This is the first full season for Aliadiere in the league and he and Tuncay have obviously played the most this season. They have both earned a lot of pats on the back from me.

"We know in Afonso, we have a genuine goalscorer, and I would like to think with Mido, he would like to come back and show the people of Teesside what he has not been able to yet."