Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock says it will take a “miracle” for him to mount a promotion challenge next season.
Warnock has taken the permanent job at the Riverside after saving Boro from relegation, completing a nine-game rescue mission at the end of the last campaign.
“It would be a miracle to do something like that,” he said. “But I look back at where I’ve been and what I’ve done. QPR and Cardiff were very similar.
“I do back myself against anybody. It’s just a massive challenge.
“It’s the sort of job I like to look forward to and see what I can do. There are many aspects I’d like to change and see if I can come up with an answer.
“I’m not a magician but it won’t be through lack of trying.”
It is the third time he has come out of ‘retirement’, having been tempted back to Rotherham in 2016 – a spell that reignited his passion for management.
“I wouldn’t say I got on her nerves because of the virus,” he said. “I have tried to not splash so much when I wash the pots and I have plumped the cushions more and made the bed occasionally, though when I make it she has to make it again.
“She also knows the number of times I’d love to show the owner here what I can do.
“I’ve been very close and always looked from afar. I always work better when I’m working for someone who I want to show how good I am.
“I want to show Steve Gibson what I can do.
“It’s nice that he’s given me the opportunity and nice that Sharon has let me do it.”
