Viktor Fischer may have hardly featured for Middlesbrough since joining last summer, but he still has a future on Teeside according to boss Steve Agnew.

The Danish international moved to the Riverside from Ajax last summer, and Boro fans were excited to see what he could offer – with his pace and trickery earning raving reviews across the North Sea.

But the 22-year-old has struggled to adapt to the pace and ferocity of the English game, featuring just 18 times all season.

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But Agnew has left the door open for the winger, saying he has a great deal of potential.

“I’ve had chats with Viktor in the office and he remains positive, he remains very focused and he’s just waiting for an opportunity and let’s see where that takes us before the end of the season,” he said.

“I think it’s about the (fact that it’s his) first season in the Premier League which is difficult to adjust to, especially for players coming in from leagues around Europe.

“It is so much quicker and there’s so much intensity to the game, the style of play, we’re in England and that’s what happens and it takes time for certain players to adjust.

“I have seen Viktor in training certainly in recent weeks, he’s been really, really good and he’s certainly impressed me over the last month or so and I just want him to continue to do that.”

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not concerned that his all-of-a-sudden leaky defence is coming up against the Premier League’s in-form striker this weekend.

League top goal-scorer Romelo Lukaku will go up against a Blues back line that has failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 Premier League games on Sunday, when Chelsea travel to Everton.

The Toffees are looking to extend their home winning streak to eight games this weekend, but Conte confirmed that his squad was fully fit and injury free.

Chelsea have topped the Premier League since mid-December, further cementing this position with a win at home to Southampton on Tuesday, but the Blues’ manager sees a tough end to the season ahead.

“We must pay great attention to Lukaku and also the other players because they have a lot of good players with good technique and good finishing ability,” said Conte.

“It’s important to improve, to work on the situations where we are conceding goals. I am not concerned about this, but at the same time we are working.

“Everton are a really good strong team with great players in their squad. They have good quality, they are a physical team and they have a good manager.

“They play well-organised football and for sure it will be a really tough game for us, but at the end of the season every game becomes tough for different reasons – when they play at home they are stronger.”

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes believes Slaven Bilic is a good Premier League manager and identified with the pressure the West Ham supremo has been under this season.

Hughes spoke ahead of the Hammers visit to the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday, knowing that victory will establish a four-point cushion over the London side.

Victory for the Potters would also push them past the 40-point marker as both sides bid for a top-half finish in the league.

Bilic has come under criticism frequently this season and the Hammers travel north having won just one of their last ten Premier League fixtures.

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And Hughes highlighted the variety of challenges that can lead to this kind of criticism throughout the season.

“Focus will come on your shoulders when a team is struggling for results,” said Hughes.

“There are a lot of factors that go into the season you face, like injuries, difficult runs of fixtures and the like, and if things are going bad then it doesn’t mean you are a poor manager, which Slaven most definitely isn’t.

“The Premier League is an incredibly difficult league to navigate through successfully, and if you slip below the bar on occasions then it can be difficult, just as several clubs have this season, maybe including ourselves.

“We want to get past the 40-point marker tomorrow and then go on and end the season on a high.”

Arthur Masuaku has needed time to adjust to the Premier League but is beginning to show what he can do as the season draws to a close.

The winger joined the Hammers from Olympiacos in the summer and after struggling with injuries has finally had a decent run of starts in the first team.

After coming in for the injured Aaron Crosswell in early April, Masuaku has gone from strength to strength and helped his side to clean sheets against Swansea and Everton.

And while the 23-year-old is eager to keep things tight at the back, he admitted he is not afraid to get forward when the opportunity presents itself.

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“When I was young I used to play as a winger. In my game, I like to defend, be strong in that aspect, but I like going forward too,” he said.

“The manager told me that I just have to play my football as I know. I’m strong and I’m fast, and if I can help the team with some crosses that’s great.

“It’s much better when you play a game and you know that you’re not at the bottom of the table. For us, it’s key to keep on gaining confidence as it means you can play with freedom.”

West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has backed Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon to hit the goal trail again in the remainder of the season.

Rondon last scored for the Baggies when he claimed a hat-trick of headers against Swansea City in December and he has been unable to add to his season’s tally of seven in the four months since.

In that time, the 27-year-old has gone 18 games in all competitions without finding the net, something West Brom haven’t done as a whole in their last four matches.

Rondon was left out in the most recent of these, against Liverpool two weeks ago, but an injury to Hal Robson-Kanu means that he is set to return to the starting line-up against Leicester City on Saturday.

Pulis said: “He’s got the chance of coming in and hopefully get off the mark again and, in the last five game, get us a few goals.

“He’s a good lad and there have been a few other issues that have affected him during the season, especially after Christmas, and there’s stuff at times that can affect players.

“His family’s a long, long way away, so I understand that, but he’s a great lad.

“Everybody likes him around the place and he works so, so hard for us. He’s been no trouble whatsoever.

“If we weren’t creating chances then I would be worried, but we are creating chances, even against Liverpool, and we have to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is relishing the challenge he and his team face as they look to secure a top-four finish to return to Europe’s elite competition next season.

Klopp’s men currently occupy third place in the Premier League – one point ahead of Manchester City and one further clear of Manchester United.

And the German wants to see his side give everything they have to the cause over the course of their four remaining games, starting with their trip to Vicarage Road to take on Watford on Monday night.

But Klopp insists his side have achieved an objective by simply being in the mix at the business end of the season.

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“I think when we met here months ago at the beginning of the season, when we were first or second in the table and all that stuff, I said the only thing we can do is to be in the battle for the interesting positions at the end of the season,” explained Klopp.

“The end of the season is now, of course, it is the last month of the season and we are in the battle. So what else do we want?

“Yes, it would be nice if we had ten points more and fight with Chelsea for the title, but that’s not for us obviously in this moment.

“So we have to fight for what we can fight for and that’s a Champions League place. That’s really, really interesting, to be honest.”

Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri thinks anger is the key to his side defeating Liverpool on Monday, as the Hornets look to bounce back from their loss to Hull last weekend.

Mazzarri wants his team to channel their frustrations felt after their 6-1 reverse at Anfield in November, which ended an unbeaten run of four matches.

Victory at Vicarage Road would improve Liverpool’s prospects of a top-four finish, while the Hornets, currently tenth, are aiming for their highest ever finish in the Premier League.

“Liverpool will be angry after losing at home, but I hope my players will be more angry as we lost at Hull and conceded six goals at Anfield,” Mazzarri said.

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“The Liverpool and Tottenham games were our two worst games – I did not sleep after these defeats.

“I want them to fight for every ball and be really concentrated.”

Watford are tenth in the league, nine points clear of the drop zone, but Mazzarri says he will not feel comfortable until his team have secured their place in the Premier League for another season.

He said: “We are still not mathematically safe but we are very near safety and that is our target.

“Every match is important and we want to do better and better and value every performance.”

Ronald Koeman has thrown down the gauntlet to his Everton players and challenged them to hit top form against Chelsea on Sunday.

The Toffees welcome the league leaders to Goodison Park and manager Koeman is hoping that his players have learned from their 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Antonio Conte’s title-chasers at Stamford Bridge back November – their biggest defeat of the season.

“We had only one game this season where we had no chances and that was the Chelsea game,” said the Everton chief.

“From the start until the end [of the game], we had no chance to even get one point out of the game.

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“Of course, that is something we would like to change.

“We want to show the team is improving, the team is much better, and we can give much more competition in every aspect of football against Chelsea.

“Maybe we need to change our mentality a little bit because I felt our intensity dropped in the game last week [a goalless draw at West Ham United] – maybe a little bit less motivation – because it is always difficult if you already have seventh position in your pocket.

“Then, maybe you get a little bit of a holiday or end-of-season-type feeling and that is something I don’t like.

“We are playing at home – we are strong at home and we would like to keep our momentum going at home.

“We know we need to face the best team in the Premier League.”

Claude Puel is targeting a top-half finish for Southampton this season and is expecting a tough game on Saturday against a Hull City side scrapping for their lives.

The Tigers are looking for their first away win since August, and travel to St Mary’s positioned one place above the relegation drop zone.

Saints head into the game off the back of defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City, and could close the gap between themselves and West Bromwich Albion who sit eighth in the league table.

And Puel has re-iterated the importance of Saints picking up three points to keep the fans happy and secure a top-half finish for the fourth season running.

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“It’s an important game for us after two losses, it’s important now to move forward and to take points,” said Puel.

“We know to finish in the top half of the table is important for us and for the fans.

“I think Hull City are a good team with good technical players and they play good football. They won their last game with ten-men against eleven which shows good spirit.

“It’s important in front of our own fans to have a good game and hopefully get a good result of course.”

Burnley are yet to secure their survival in the Premier League this season, but their manager Sean Dyche insists they are staying the pace.

The Clarets kept themselves clear of the relegation scrap for several months due to their good home form, but they barely laid a glove during their 2-0 defeat against Manchester United at Turf Moor last Sunday.

With Hull and Swansea both winning the previous day, it meant Dyche’s men are five points clear of the relegation zone, with only one win from their last 11 games.

They’re still without a win away from home all season and defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday evening could lead to a few jitters amongst their supporters in the remainder of the campaign.

Dyche said: “We took 17 points out of the first 17 games. We have just added 19 points out of the last 17 games, on a ‘bad run’. I don’t know how that actually equates.

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“There’s a lot of perception about football and our job is to see the facts of what we do, analyse the facts, analyse the performances and keep moving forward and that’s what we intend to do.

“Two years ago we didn’t get a win in the first ten games. This time we had four points out the first five games and everyone said it was a really good start for Burnley.

“We’ve just had four points of the last five and now it’s not deemed good.”