WHILE Aitor Karanka has been browsing the finest produce in the Championship supermarket this summer, Neil Lennon has been loitering in the discount aisle.

After Middlesbrough’s near miss in the play-offs last season, their Spanish manager has virtually been handed a blank cheque by his chairman Steve Gibson to sign the likes of Stewart Downing, Christian Stuani, and, potentially, Blackburn Rovers’ £14million-rated Jordan Rhodes.

Lennon, meanwhile, has had to duck and dive to secure free transfers like Stephen Dobbie, Ben Amos and Gary Madine – but you won’t find him complaining as the two sides prepare to meet at the Riverside tomorrow.

While fans speculated wildly about how much of the £1.75m gained from the Tim Ream deal he will be able to reinvest in his squad, the Wanderers boss remained pragmatic about his own club’s situation.

“You can never be envious in football,” Lennon said, reflecting on morning papers linking Boro with a £14m bid for Rhodes and a £6m offer for Leicester City’s David Nugent.

“Going into this club we had our eyes wide open, we knew the situation and we work within the parameters.

“I’m sure it’s great for the Middlesbrough fans to see a chairman - who’s been fantastic for them down the years - having a right good go.

“But with it comes an expectation. You spend all that money and there is a pressure to perform too.

“We know our situation and we deal with it.”

Lennon may not be able to buy a ready-made product at present but he has nevertheless been happy with his work in the transfer window so far.

Added funds from Ream should now give him some scope to sign another two players – which intriguingly could be in place by kick-off tomorrow – but while he may be on an entirely different budget from the man in the opposite dugout, he believes the recruitment process is no different.

“Whether you spend nothing on a player or £15million on a player you still need to do the background work, although at £15m you basically know what you’re going to get,” he said.

“Sometimes we’re a little bit in the dark – but we do our homework and make sure they’ve been consistently on the pitch, that their playing record is good, and then their ability.

“We’ve found some players we’re pleased with – Gary Madine, Prince, a good goalkeeper in Ben Amos. We’re happy with the improvement we’ve made on the recruitment side, and there will be another one or two coming in to augment that as well.”

Boro overcame Oldham in the Capital One Cup and were watched by Lennon in a goalless draw against Preston last weekend.

Lennon expects a different prospect in what will be the first game of the season at the Riverside, a re-enactment of Karanka’s first game in charge just under two years ago.

And he is confident that despite his own side’s hiccup in midweek against Burton, there will be no spill over to the weekend.

“We’re looking forward to it because I feel we’re playing well, despite the result on Tuesday night,” he said.

“Having looked at the volume of chances we created, it was more than I’d even thought at the time.

“The attitude was good, the football was good, and I couldn’t really have asked much more of my players than I got.

“The only thing that was missing was putting the ball in the back of the net to put us in the next round.

“We didn’t deserve to lose the game. I’ve watched other clubs in the Championship who’ve gone out, and deserve to do that.

“But we played pretty well.”

After dominating against Burton in midweek without success, Lennon expects a very different game on Teesside.

The Whites boss hinted at a possible change in system, and matched Boro’s 4-2-3-1 formation when the two sides met back in February.

“We need to look at personnel for this game,” he said. “We’ll be under pressure and we’ll have to do some work on how we want to approach it.

“The players are in a good place and I don’t think the result on Tuesday will affect them.

“If they maintain the standards they have set so far then they’ll be okay.”