Mark Viduka believes Middlesbrough could have snatched a Champions League place had it not been for their frustrating catalogue of injuries.

The 29-year-old Australian has been one of several key players who have been unable to play a meaningful part for extended periods of a campaign which will draw to a close at Manchester City on Sunday with UEFA Cup qualification the target.

The Teessiders will claim seventh place and the final European berth if they avoid defeat, although Viduka admits that it could have been even better.

"When you look at all the problems, it is not funny," he said. "There probably is not a single player that has not had some kind of injury.

"We started like a house on fire, and that was true with myself - but I had a spell when I was scoring and then a time when I was not, and then I had the injuries.

"If we had avoided the injuries, we would have stayed up in the Champions League positions because we looked comfortable up there before Christmas."

Boro remained in contention until the turn of the year when a bad run of results which has only just come to a halt saw them slip off the pace.

Everton claimed the final Champions League spot at the weekend with the Teessiders some seven points adrift, although a successful outcome on Sunday will serve as adequate compensation.

For Viduka, the game will bring down the curtain on his first season on the club's books, and one he will not look back upon with any great pleasure.

His arrival in a £4.5million switch from Leeds last summer, coupled with that of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, provided Boro with the strike-power they felt they needed to make a genuine challenge for and in Europe, but the Australian has managed only 21 appearances and seven goals.

That has been a huge source of frustration to manager Steve McClaren, who has been able to call upon his summer signing just once since Boxing Day, and that only lasted 10 minutes as a hamstring injury took its toll, although the player himself has been even more disappointed.

"This has been a season to forget for myself," he told the Evening Gazette. "But I am already looking forward to next year and it will be like starting again.

"Every day it is getting stronger and stronger and things are looking good at the moment. It is so frustrating for me because I love football and want to be working with a ball, and the running and physical work every single day can be tedious.

"Now I hope that the boys can go to Manchester City on Sunday and get a result. I would love to be out there for such a big game, but we have the players who can do it.

"We all want to stay in Europe and that is what everybody will be trying to achieve."

Meanwhile, reports continue to circulate that Boro are planning a £4million summer swoop for out of favour Inter Milan winger Andy van der Meyde.

However, the Dutchman's representatives insist there has been no contact from Teesside with either them or the Serie A club on the matter.

Boro are understood to be close to clinching a £6.5million deal with Portsmouth to take striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu to the Riverside Stadium, while Juventus defender Igor Tudor is also on McClaren's wish-list.