STEVE McClaren has urged his under-achieving strikeforce to take a leaf out of Juan Pablo Angel's book as the in-form Colombian returns from a knee injury at the Riverside this afternoon.

Aston Villa striker Angel was being written off as an expensive flop after scoring just 19 times in the 18 months following his £9.5m move from Argentinian club side River Plate.

But the South American has come into his own this season, and his 21 goals have been the driving force behind Villa's late surge into Champions League contention.

Boro could have been pushing for the top four themselves had one of their strikers enjoyed similar success.

But Joseph-Desire Job, Szilard Nemeth and Massimo Maccarone boast just 18 Premiership strikes between them and McClaren admits to viewing Angel's renaissance with more than a hint of envy.

"We're all searching for someone who can score 20-odd goals a season," said the Boro boss. "And Angel's a perfect example of a player coming over from abroad and a club sticking with them.

"Any foreign player coming over here needs time to settle - whether he's coming from South America, Italy or Spain.

"Angel's been one of them. He always had ability and talent, and now he's coming through.

"They've nurtured him through his sticky spell and now he's come out the other side and produced the goals.

"If you pursue one of those every year and you give up on them straight away, you're going to be spending money galore.

"But Villa had a good squad there in the first place. You need a goalscorer in your team if you're going to achieve anything - and they've found one in Angel."

Last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Wolves ended a five-match unbeaten run that had taken Boro into the top half of the table.

McClaren's side currently occupy 11th spot - three places and eight points short of their previous best Premiership finish.

February's Carling Cup success, and the UEFA Cup qualification that accompanied it, ensured this season will go into the history books as one of the most successful in the club's history.

But McClaren insists he will still regard the campaign as something of a failure if Boro's league form collapses in the final four games.

"We won a cup three-quarters of the way through the season - but that's gone now," he said. "People will look back on that with great pride, but we've put ourselves in a great position in the league and we don't want to waste it.

"I was absolutely devastated to lose at Wolves last weekend and it's important we get back to winning ways against Villa.

"We're back into the pack in that middle section and the next four games are going to be crucial.

"There are three leagues within the one league now.

"The top three have pulled away, there's a group of teams from fourth down to 13th, and then the rest are battling against relegation.

"This is a massive game for us. All of the teams in that middle pack will be wondering where they can finish up because the picture changes every Saturday.

"There have been so many strange results flying around and it's all about getting some consistency over the last four games."

Villa boss O'Leary has admitted that Boro will pose a big threat to his side's bid to qualify for Europe.

O'Leary, whose team could move clear in fourth place this weekend if they win and other results go for them, believes Boro are a force to be reckoned with.

''They are a big threat at home,'' said O'Leary. ''They are a club, who along with the big boys, show their intentions with their spending.

"Wages are not a problem and you can see who they were trying to get at Christmas in Mark Viduka.

''They may not have a name such as Aston Villa but they are there with the big boys without a doubt. Steve McClaren, is three years into his plan and he has a wonderful chairman who previously backed Bryan Robson.

''He has now backed McClaren with £40 or £50m. On top of that he has been able to bring in three top loan players, Gaizka Mendieta, who I fancied, Danny Mills and Bolo Zenden.

''Mendieta and Zenden are out of my reach. But Middlesbrough have been up there with the big boys in regard to spending from the days of Fabrizio Ravanelli."

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