Defender Back With Boro

Last updated : 04 May 2008 By Sam
The 27-year-old Boro centre-back, who has been on loan at the Championship side since March, is expected to go straight back into the Boro side to play Portsmouth at The Riverside on Saturday where a win would most definately secure Boro's Premier League status for another season because Robert Huth has picked up an injury in training.

"We know there's a job to be done and we want to do that against Portsmouth," manager Gareth Southgate has said.

"The possibility (of relegation) has been in my mind since September-October. Having started the way we did, there was always the chance we could find ourselves in this sort of situation.

"We had a little cushion which we've had to use in the last couple of weeks, but it's still all in our hands.

"What we've got to do is make sure our performance against Portsmouth is one that shows everybody how much it means to us to stay in this league.

"People at other clubs wouldn't be unduly surprised we're in this situation and nobody's going to help us except ourselves."