Former Middlesbrough defender Gareth Southgate has tipped the club to get promoted to the Premier League this season.

The 44-year-old, who manages England's Under-21s, spent five years with Boro last decade and thinks that the Teesside club can return to the top flight after six seasons in the Championship.

Speaking after it was announced that his Under-21s would face Germany at Boro's Riverside Stadium in March, Southgate told the club website: "With Middlesbrough going as well as they are, there is a good feeling up there and I think they are going to be really strong contenders for promotion. Aitor [Karanka] is doing a really good job."

Seventeen games into the 2014-15 season, Boro sit third in the table, one point shy of league leaders Derby County.