JUNINHO last night told his Middlesbrough teammates to aim for a top-six Premiership finish.

Boro's 3-1 destruction of Southampton at the Riverside on Monday lifted Steve McClaren's side to ninth place, the club's best Premiership finish five years ago when Bryan Robson was in charge.

McClaren has revealed that his players, who won Boro's first major trophy with the Carling Cup triumph over Bolton in February, want to make history again by ending the season higher than ninth.

But Juninho is adamant that Boro - amazingly only four points off a top-four Champions League place - should be aiming at the top six.

Boro also need only another eight points from their remaining five games to beat their best Premiership total, 52 under Robson in 2000.

Juninho, who spent two spells on Teesside in the Robson era before McClaren lured him back in the summer of 2002, declared that the current Boro side is the finest he has played in.

The 31-year-old Brazilian said: "We are not just aiming for higher than ninth place, we are aiming for the top six.

"That has to be our aim at the end of the season. We are playing our best football now and a top-six place is a real possibility.

"We have five games left and that means there are 15 points to play for, and we want to get as near as we can to that.

"Sixth place would be a real achievement because no-one really remembers who finishes seventh or eighth, but they remember the top six.

"We are good enough to get there and we are playing some great football now. Everything is working well and we have to be happy.

"I think the result at Chelsea last weekend made a few people start to recognise us for what we are. We held them 0-0 and could even have won it, and I think that is a measure of how good this team is.

"We are not yet as good as Chelsea, but we are headng in that direction and this is a very good Boro side, the best I have been involved in since coming here.

"We have a lot of attacking options on the left flank with Bolo Zenden, and on the right with Gaizka Mendieta. They supply the strikers and we should be getting goals.

"That is eight for me in the league this season and I want to get past ten and then maybe a couple more.''

Massimo Maccarone led Boro's onslaught against Southampton, having a hand in goals by Juninho and Szilard Nemeth before scoring himself.

The 24-year-old Italian striker, Boro's record £8.15m buy, has struggled to win over the doubters in his two seasons at the Riverside.

But, after missing the first two months of this season with an ankle ligament injury, he now has three goals from his last five games and Juninho said: "I am sure the manager is delighted with the way Massimo is playing.

"He has always been a good player, everyone at the club knows that, but he has had injuries which have made it difficult for him. If you are in and out of a side because you are injured, it is not easy.

"He had a great game against Southampton and he showed what he is capable of doing. He looks very fit and he looked a very dangerous striker. He has so much ability - that has never been in doubt.

"He has played for his country, which shows how good he is. He will score a lot of goals in the Premiership. What he must do is get a good pre-season in training so that he goes into next season really fit, and then he will score many goals.

"The fans have been very patient with him, which is typical of them. They are great fans because they see he has talent, but he just needs to settle down and get his confidence back.

"Now that he is playing with confidence, he looks a good player. He will be a very special player when he plays to his best.

"No-one has any doubts he will do that.

"Massimo is very well liked around the club and we know how much he wants to succeed. We see how much work he puts into training. Hopefully he can stay fit and score lots of goals for us next season.