Gareth Southgate has told his Middlesbrough stars they are fighting for their Riverside Stadium futures as they head into the last six games of their Barclays Premier League campaign.
Boro are likely to be mathematically certain of avoiding relegation if they pick up at least a point against Manchester United on Sunday but Southgate insists his side's season is far from over.
He said: "As a manager you are looking at all your players and staff to see how they approach the last six games. It will tell us who can take us forward and what changes need to be made.
"People will get opportunities in this period but we have got to finish the season strongly. We are not yet mathematically safe and we still have to get results to ensure that."
Southgate sees no reason why his side cannot derail the title ambitions of Sir Alex Ferguson's men after being encouraged by the performance in the second half of their narrow defeat at Chelsea last week.
And he will urge his players to adopt a fearless approach and go out to attack a side who are still on a high after their magnificent Champions League win over Roma in midweek.
"I want us to start with the same mentality as we finished the game against Chelsea last week," he continued. "We have shown recently that we can compete against the top teams in the country.
"We've got to attack the game in a way that puts them on the back foot. We know what they're capable of but we certainly don't have an inferiority complex going into the game.
"We've got to try and hurt them because if we just sit back and try to stop United playing, they will still create chances and they are still capable of beating us."
Southgate admits Cristiano Ronaldo remains the most potent weapon in the United line-up and maintains he has only respect for the United winger despite their run-in last season.
Southgate furiously accused Ronaldo of diving to win a penalty in last term's corresponding fixture, sparking a war of words with Ferguson, who branded the Boro boss "naïve".
But Southgate said: "We have got no issue with Cristiano Ronaldo. We all admire him as a player, we think he is an outstanding player and we respect him for that.
"He is certainly the best player in our league and if there is a better player in Europe we haven't seen much of them. His scoring record is phenomenal and he is a great talent.
"There were a couple of incidents in games last season but that is in the past. We respect what he's about, we respect his ability and as fans of good football we enjoy watching him play."
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