Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has called on Middlesbrough to maintain their defensive tightness as they endeavour to move out of relegation trouble. "We made a deliberate decision to tighten up after we lost at West Brom in the middle of January," said Southgate.

"It's been hard work but the players have stuck to their task and now we are starting to see the benefits.

"A couple of clean sheets were the first step and although we continued to receive criticism from outside the club, we have come through it and we are now scoring goals as well.

"The main thing is that we must show the resilience if we are to remain difficult to break down. If we are going to stay in this league we will need to win at least one away game before the end of the season, and possibly two."