Southgate only looking towards Boro's future
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Gareth Southgate admits Middlesbrough deserve to be in relegation trouble – but claims their past performances are now "irrelevant". Southgate wants his side to focus entirely on their remaining 10 Premier League games and not dwell on where points might have been lost in games gone by. Boro face fellow strugglers Portsmouth in a key game at the Riverside Stadium today before travelling to Stoke for another crucial encounter next week.
"Over the course of 28 games we are where we deserve to be – but thankfully it is a 38-game season," Southgate said. "You have to judge yourself as a club at the end of those 38 games. There are many reasons for the position we are in. What is important is how we fight to try to stay up. The past is irrelevant. It is what we do over the next 10 games that is important and, more specifically, tomorrow."
Boro secured a vital 2-0 win over Liverpool at the Riverside a fortnight ago, but have since lost 4-0 at Tottenham and then crashed out of the FA Cup against Everton.
"There is no point playing anything down," Southgate added. "Everybody can see the table, they know what is at stake. We have got to make sure we are as well prepared as we can be and are ready to play good football. We know what Portsmouth are good at. We know how we can exploit them but, as with every Premier League game, we will have to be at our best to win it."
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