SCOTT McDONALD has not dismissed Middlesbrough's chances of a play-off place this season, but hopes an encouraging display against Newcastle United will lift spirits among disillusioned supporters, regardless of the division they are in next season.
McDonald finally celebrated his first goal for the club following his 3.5m move from Celtic in the January transfer window, scoring against the Magpies, with Andy Carroll's 82nd minute equaliser taking the gloss off it slightly.
But the Australian striker, after playing his first five matches for the club, feels the overall display against Newcastle offered an indication that frustrated fans can be won over by positive performances.
Since his move south of the border McDonald has been surprised by the mood around the Riverside Stadium, having regularly played in front of a passionate 60,000-strong crowd at Parkhead.
Over the course of the last few seasons there has been a growing air of despondency on Teesside, which has failed to disappear during an inconsistent first season in the Championship.
Regardless of what has gone before, however, McDonald insists the atmosphere at the Riverside on Saturday has highlighted to January's new signings that the Middlesbrough supporters will back their team if fortunes improve.
If nothing else we hope we have given the fans optimism for next season and the future, said McDonald. The support was great, such enthusiasm in the stands. It was great to see them like that. A lot more of that will help us. If we can get that until the end of the season it would be superb. We would like a bit more of it.
When I ran out I said this is more like it. This is what I like. Let's go and enjoy it'.
It's fair to say it's something I have missed from Celtic, playing in front of crowds like that. It's different.
It doesn't change my focus, but it does make a difference when fans are loud and like that week in and week out. It gives you more of an edge and you enjoy it more.
There was a buzz in the stadium and the fans were right behind us. It gave us a taste of what it would be like if we get up.
It might have taken McDonald five matches to open his account for Boro, but it was the third time since his switch that they have avoided defeat.
The 26-year-old expects to figure at Derby County tomorrow night, when Middlesbrough aim to close the four-point gap which exists between themselves and sixth-placed Cardiff City.
We are still in there but we need to get wins on the board now, he said. We need a minimum of five wins and that might not even be enough. We have to be looking at 20-plus points out of 30 to get in there.
We will keep fighting. The frustration is that we have got our shape, everything is emerging and we might run out of time this season, but we hope not. We will keep fighting until someone tells us it is over.
McDonald's display was arguably his best since his arrival, but there was a sense that the fans would not have been satisfied with him until he found the net.
When he hooked his right boot around Chris Killen's knock down on the line 16 minutes before the end, the World Cup hopeful was off the mark.
I hope it's the first of many, I'm up and running,
said McDonald, who made the move to Teesside just weeks after hernia surgery.
I'm quite confident that will be the case. As long as the chances keep coming I will get in the right place and hopefully put them in the net.
I'm not 100 per cent fit.
But the injury is 100 per cent.
It was not nagging in the back of my mind for the first time. I wasn't feeling uncomfortable.
I haven't been able to put my full weight behind the ball in recent games. Now there's a sense of belief and I would like to enjoy my football again.
We have mixed feelings after the result. We did enough to win the game but it wasn't to be.
Source: Northern Echo
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