Plenty of reasons to be cheerful

WORK STILL TO BE DONE IN THE TRANSFER MARKET, BUT NEW BOSS EDWARDS HAS BEEN LEFT A SOLID BASE TO BUILD FROM

- By CRAIG JOHNS

LIKE many, I have reservations heading into the new season about Middlesbrough's prospects of reaching the top six.

It's tough at this stage to make bold predictions. The summer transfer window still has over three weeks to go, and while it's clear this hasn't yet been the window anyone hoped for, there will absolutely be new arrivals before it all closes on September 1.

Reservations for many, as well as predictions from prominent Championship experts that range from around 12th to 16th, largely stem around the lack of transfer activity, and the current strength of the squad. They're fair.

While the general feeling was that Boro underachieved when finishing tenth last term - and that ultimately resulted in Michael Carrick being sacked there were clear deficiencies that cost them too.

Without Isaiah Jones, Ben Doak and Emmanuel Latte Lath, the team lacks pace. They don't have enough depth either, with injuries already taking hold for new boss Rob Edwards.

Despite all of that, I can't help but shake the feeling that maybe Boro have been written off far too easily this season. After heading into the last three seasons being tipped by many to even potentially challenge for automatic promotion, maybe that's not the worst thing. Edwards has certainly enjoyed proving people wrong in the past.