The 31-year-old took his tally for the season to 19 with a decisive double as Boro eased past Fulham with a 3-1 win to secure a 12th-place finish in the Barclays Premiership.

Viduka's contract runs out at the end of next month and his contribution yesterday could prove to be the last of his time on Teesside.

However, he was serenaded by supporters desperate for him to sign the extension which has been on the table for months as he and his team-mates completed a lap of honour around the Riverside Stadium.

And Southgate hopes that could make all the difference.

He said: "Everybody likes to be loved and he is loved here, there is no question of that - and rightly so with the performances he has given.

"This has probably been the best of the years he has been here and hopefully he can see what we are trying to do.

"It is important to him that it is not just about him, it is what the team is doing.

"He needs to see that the team is ambitious and the club is ambitious and that has been the basis of the chats I have had with him."

Viduka opened the scoring with 34 minutes gone after keeper Antti Niemi and some less than effective finishing had kept the visitors in the game.

Simon Davies levelled three minutes before the break when he capitalised on an error by defender David Wheater, who promptly redeemed himself by restoring Boro's lead with a bullet header in first-half injury-time.

Viduka collected his second within a minute of the restart and was only denied a hat-trick by a late save from Niemi.

Southgate said: "He has been a massive player for us. His ability, his leadership - the team really look to him all the time.

"The goals he scored were excellent, but his overall contribution was so important to us.

"He knows my stance on it and hopefully he now realises how much everybody at the club and the fans would love him to stay.

"The way he is playing tells me he is enjoying his football, and I know that's a big thing for him.

"He knows what I want to do here, he knows my view is that as a club, we have been a bit comfortable for a little while and some things need a bit of a shake-up.

"Having survived this season, we can do that. We have finished 12th, which gives us a platform. It is a small improvement on last year, but it gives us a platform to try to press forward."

The game proved a sobering experience for Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez, who handed defender Matthew Briggs a senior debut as a substitute at the age of 16 years and 65 days to make him the youngest player in Premiership history.

He said: "You cannot win if you let three goals in away from home - and without Antti, we would probably have let more in."