On the eve of Middlesbrough's Carling Cup first leg semi-final at Arsenal, Juninho has demanded a bolder approach from Steve McClaren's side. Chief football writer Clive Hetherington reports.

AS once again he seeks the Holy Grail that is Middlesbrough's first major trophy in their 128-year history, Juninho darkly hints at potentially significant differences with manager Steve McClaren.

The prodigal returned to his adoptive home for a third spell in the summer of 2002 with a mission to take care of some unfinished business.

In the twilight of his initial time on Teesside seven seasons ago, the Brazilian was literally brought to his knees, a tearful wreck after Boro had lost in both the Coca-Cola and FA Cup finals and been relegated from the Premiership.

It was all too much for Juninho, who packed his bags for Spain and a £12m move to Atletico Madrid.

While Boro made a tidy profit of over £7m on the deal, Bryan Robson, who first lured him in October 1995, jumped at the opportunity to take Juninho back on loan for the best part of a season in 1999.

Hopes of a permanent reunion evaporated until McClaren, Robson's successor, revived interest in the "The Little Fella'' after his World Cup success with Brazil in the Far East.

For £3.8m, he was all Boro's again.

But, in life, it is often said you should never go back and some are now wondering whether Boro - and Juninho - were right to get involved again.

It was certainly an ill-starred start under McClaren when Juninho crumpled to the ground in a low-key pre-season game in Italy and had to undergo reconstructive knee surgery in the United States to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

He was out for almost seven months, but marked his competitive return with a vital goal as a substitute against Everton at the Riverside.

This season, however, he was seemingly forced to carry the can for Boro's abysmal start as they picked up only one point from their first five games.

As soon as he was dropped, Boro started winning, but Juninho admitted he was "very upset'' to be left out.

Since then, the 30-year-old has been in and out of the side and the hurt clearly still lingers.

Now, as Boro's Player of the Century prepares to face Arsenal in the first leg of a Carling Cup semi-final at Highbury tonight and eyes the silverware that so agonisingly eluded him first time around, he almost seems to yearn for the Robson era and his old sparring partners Fabrizio Ravanelli and Emerson.

What is obvious is Juninho's disillusionment with Boro's lack of attacking ambition, and the fact that he is no longer guaranteed to be the axis of the team, even though he is leading scorer this season with five goals.

"In my first spell here, there was me and Ravanelli up front, but we had plenty of support,'' said Juninho. "We are looking to do that, but we have to do it more consistently. We need more support up front.

"The manager is good over tactics, but sometimes I talk to him because I don't think it is right to drop me - that's just my opinion.

"We'll see what happens at the end of the season. I hope to stay until the end of my contract (it has two more seasons to run) even if we don't play in Europe next season. I am not thinking about my future. I want to be part of it when Middlesbrough go higher.

"It's always sad when you don't start. I do my job, do my best to play every week, but it's not my decision.

"I'm not upset with the manager, I just say I want to play every game. He knows I'm upset when I don't start, but everyone wants to start.

"I'd rather play behind two strikers because when you turn there are options. When there is one, you have to wait for others, and the defenders get back too.

"I expect better from us at this stage. We are doing well in the cups but I expect better in the League.

"We talked about objectives at the start of the season and they are still there, so we have to do better.

"I am here to help Middlesbrough go where they deserve to go. A lot of the players here have played in Europe, so they know what it means.''

Juninho is calling for a more adventurous approach against the Gunners, who crushed Boro 4-1 at Highbury in the Premiership ten days ago when he was restricted to a cameo role as a substitute.

"The best way to defend at Arsenal is to attack,'' insisted Juninho. "We have to forget the last game, but we have to learn from it because there were a lot of mistakes and we were too scared.

"We go there in the FA Cup on Saturday then play them at home next Wednesday in the second leg of the Carling Cup, so maybe it was a good thing to lose like we did in the first of the four games.

"We have to attack them but we must defend well as individuals. Then, maybe, we have a chance.

"But the manager has to make the decision. I just say what I feel because, if we give so much space to them, they will create. If we press, we might do better.

"We have to go with a forward mentality. Some games we defend too much and forget to go forward to help the strikers; everybody says we need to score, but nobody helps to score.

"We defend from the front well and it reflects on the defenders, so we need help to score goals from the back-four too.

"Arsenal are the best team in the Premier League and, with so many quality players, they will create chances. If you play 11 at the back, they still create, so we have nothing to lose.

"In the last game, when we did go forward in the last 20 minutes, we got chances. They are favourites but if they give us space we have to use it.''

Juninho knows that, even with a weakened side, Arsenal could still have enough in their armoury to overwhelm Boro.

He said: "Arsenal will not play their first team, but they have a good squad and they take it seriously anyway. If they rest Thierry Henry, they have nobody else like him, but we have to think about our own performance.

"I like players like Henry and Ronaldo, they can create as well as score. They can play; I don't like strikers who are just in the box and do nothing else.''

So, if Boro chairman Steve Gibson has a spare £100m up his sleeve, Juninho would like to play behind those two, please!

Read more about Middlesbrough here.