Chris Wilder knows Middlesbrough's two transfer priorities and is confident on success

Chris Wilder knows he needs to strengthen Middlesbrough's goalkeeper department and striker options this summer. And he insists hard work continues to achieve both, while he has confidence they'll succeed in convincing good players to join.

Boro have made a good start to the summer transfer window, securing a new second-choice goalkeeper in Liam Roberts, while adding Ryan Giles and Darragh Lenihan to immediately strengthen the first-team in their respective positions at left wing-back and centre-back. But for anyone who watched Boro last season it was clear to see that their Achilles heel was conceding too many sloppy goals which was not helped by the lack of a reliable goalkeeper, and then not scoring enough goals themselves at the other end as they lacked a prolific goalscorer.

And Wilder knows that too. He said: "As I've said to you guys, we all have different opinions of the game, but I’m not daft. The goalkeeping department needed an upgrade, and we're in the process of doing that with Liam. We're bringing another keeper in, and I've brought Alan [Fettis] in, which is a really important addition. Fabulous pedigree.

"And at the top of the pitch, we didn't score enough goals. We created enough - xG and statistically, since we came in, I think we were third. Tee to green we've been pretty good. I haven't seen us get dominated by a lot of teams, but it counts for nothing if your keeper doesn't make a save or you don't put the ball in the back of the net. We're working extremely hard in both departments and hopefully we'll tick that box in terms of players who can do a lot of the things we need to do, but more importantly put the ball in the back of the net.

"There’s a lot of work goes on. Kieran’s driving that, and