BORO will be wearing next season's new look strip against Manchester City and Gareth Southgate today demanded a performance which also looks to the future.

Southgate admits it's been a steep learning curve over the last two years but he says it's now time to draw a line under his managerial apprenticeship.

And he believes today's display will tell him a lot about what changes are needed to bring success to the club.

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"It will tell me a lot about their mentality," he said. "We're mathematically safe but what do we want to do as a team?

"Do we want to finish with a whimper, which will underline certain things to me?

"Or are we prepared to start now with what we're going to do next season and finish this game with the right mentality and the right attitude?"

Last week's victory over Portsmouth banished Boro's relegation fears but another win against City would not only send the fans home happy, there's also the little matter of up to £2.16m at stake in Premier League merit money.

"The way the Premier League is now every game's crucial," he said.

"There's prize money and rewards for the club but also pride. We're above Sunderland at the moment and we've got a chance to finish above Wigan so we want to finish strongly."

Boro face a City side who could be under Sven Goran Eriksson's stewardship for the final time if media reports are to be believed.

"Sometimes in life you can do a job and things can be out of your control," Southgate said.

"Sven is a very experienced guy and he's been through the mil in football so he'll be a lot more phlegmatic about it than perhaps younger people would be."

Tickets for the game are available online now.