Even a draw might not be enough with Spurs ahead of them on goal difference and facing Blackburn at home on the final day of the season as the Teessiders head for Manchester City.

However, Steve McClaren’s men will end the campaign better placed than they did last time around, when they finished 11th, and will hope to improve upon both the ninth place and the 52 points which stand as their current Premiership bests.

In addition, the emergence of a series of youngsters – keeper Brad Jones, defender Tony McMahon and midfielders Stewart Downing and James Morrison in particular – in the wake of a catalogue of injuries has given the manager high hopes for the future.

“Tony, James Morrison, Brad Jones – even Stewart Downing to a degree was not in the team at the beginning of the season – there are four of five boys who have shown they can have a big impact in the league,” said Southgate.

“That, next year, will give the manager a lot more options. As it turns out, the progress they have made is shown by the fact that we have missed them while they have been injured and they have been added to the list of influential players that have been missing.

“That shows how well they have done in the matches that they have played.”

McClaren will look to strengthen further during the summer, and qualification for Europe will aid that process, although Southgate is confident the foundations are already in place.

“We are going to finish higher than we did last year for a start, so in terms of the league, that has progressed,” he said. “The quality of the squad has improved – like everybody else, we are going to want to improve that again this summer.

“We have also found four or five junior players who we did not know if they would be able to play at first-team level or not, and they have proved that they can.

“All of those things have been a real plus for the season, but we want it to be finished on a high.”

Downing has been a major success and his elevation to the senior England ranks is a credit to the club’s academy, and although he has been rested in recent weeks after running out of steam, Southgate believes he could have a major role to play in the remaining two games.

“I imagine the breather will have done him the world of good,” he said. “He has played an awful lot of football and we have depended upon him enormously this year, too much to a degree.

“I am sure that spell out of the team will have given him a chance to look at things and come back fresh.”

Meanwhile, McClaren today welcomed another teenager into the fold when he handed 17-year-old winger Adam Johnson a first two-year professional contract and challenged him to follow in Downing’s footsteps.

“I am delighted that Adam is signing his first professional contract,” said McClaren. “It is good news for the club because he is a talented young player who shows a lot of promise.

“But it is also great for Adam because this is a wonderful club for young players to develop their skills in the knowledge that they will get their first team chance if they are good enough.

“Stewart Downing, his fellow left-winger, is the perfect example of what he can achieve if his attitude is right.”