Yakubu urges Viduka to stay

Mark Viduka's Middlesbrough teammate Aiyegbeni Yakubu has encouraged the Socceroos captain to stay put at the Riverside Stadium.

The Nigerian's sensational form has seen him net 19 goals this season and is a major factor why Viduka has been dropped from the starting 11.

This has led Viduka to demand of manager Steve McClaren to either play him or sell him.

But Yakubu, who signed for Middlesbrough in a club record A$18.4 million deal last year, has urged the Melbourne-born hitman to join him as part of a dynamic attack with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, dubbed by the British press as the `Three Amigoals'.

"I hope he will be here - he's a quality striker like Jimmy and Massimo (Maccarone)," Yakubu told The Sun newspaper.

"We need to keep them together. Jimmy and Viduka have both played in the Champions League and they bring that experience to the club.

"When you have players like Viduka, Jimmy and Massimo you learn every day in training."

Yakubu, 23, is confident that Boro can find a role for all of their strikers, growing the Teesiders' reputation as having some of the most potent forwards in the English Premier League.

"You can say that in England we have the best pool of strikers in the country," Yakubu said.

"We have four strikers who can all score goals and sometimes that means less pressure as an individual.

"When you have strikers like that it gives you more options and we're confident we can get goals in any game."

Middlesbrough face off against FC Basel in their UEFA Cup quarter-final first-leg in Switzerland tomorrow morning (AEDT).

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