Downing Has Not Thrown In The Towel!

Boro skipper Stewart Downing said: "I am confident we can stay up. We have some winnable games coming up at home and we have virtually a fully fit squad.

Downing had expressed his desire to move clubs during the January transfer window but insists he is now committed to keeping the club up.

"I had an unsettling two to three weeks in January where I didn't know where I was going to be.

"But once it was all sorted I didn't really have any problems - I knew what I had to do."

Portsmouth's Hayden Mullins: "All the lads were very disappointed. We feel that it's definitely two points dropped, having put ourselves in a good position when Crouchy got the early goal.

"And then all the hard work was undone with the late one that we let slip.

"Points at this stage are so vital and three would have been absolutely brilliant, so we're upset that we dropped two - especially to a club that's in a similar position.

"It was our chance to put a bit of space between us and we were very unlucky."