Hamilton Ricard was warned yesterday he must prove that his new strike partnership with Alen Boksic is the answer to Middlesbrough's goalscoring problems.

The Colombian wants a new contract at Boro but is now under pressure to produce the form that made him the club's top goalscorer in the last two seasons.

Ricard's future on Teesside will depend on how he reacts to the new influence of Terry Venables and the presence of Boksic.

The Croatian apart, the record of Boro's strike force is less than impressive despite the huge improvement in results since Venables took over coaching and team selection.

Boksic returned from injury to score a point-winning goal in each of the last two games but, other than that, no Boro striker has hit the back of the net in the last 14 games.

Boro have taken nine points from six matches under Venables but have scored just four goals and Ricard is now effectively being asked to prove himself again in a season in which his attitude has been questioned by Bryan Robson.

"Hamilton has missed a lot of football lately and we've got to see whether the partnership with Boksic works, " said Robson. "But he needs to produce the goods."

The Boro manager became impatient with the 26-year-old earlier this season and left him out of the side despite a record of 32 goals in the previous two seasons.

Ricard and Boksic have played 90 minutes together just once, at Leeds, and are likely to be handed the starting roles again at Bradford in the FA Cup third-round tie on Monday.

But there is pressure on Ricard with the return of Andy Campbell, who was back in full training yesterday after a five-week absence following surgery for a hernia.

"Andy will come straight back into the reckoning," confirmed Robson. Skipper Paul Ince and wing-back Keith O'Neill are both expected to be available at Valley Parade and midfielder Neil Maddison is also in training again after a hernia operation. "Our injury situation is looking a lot better now after a lot of problems," said Robson.

And he denied Christian Karembeu was being lined up by Paris St. Germain. "There has been no contact and we don't expect any. He is a Middlesbrough player and settled in the team now," he said. "The only reason he has been substituted recently is for tactical purposes.