Middlesbrough should take heart from last season's run to the Championship play-offs as they prepare for the new campaign, says striker Chuba Akpom.
The Teessiders were involved in the play-off picture after a surge under Michael Carrick which saw them climb from 21st to a fourth-place finish.
Defeat by Coventry in the semi-finals ended their hopes but they start this term among the challengers in 2023-24.
"We just have to take the positives out of it," Akpom told BBC Look North.
"We played fantastically, scored a lot of goals and defended well, so we just have to start again this season and be better than we were last season.