Middlesbrough FC

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Boro: Pogatetz is committed

08 Apr 2009 - 13:06:30

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Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has defended Emanuel Pogatetz following quotes attributed to his skipper that he would leave the club if they were relegated.

Pogatetz, 26, had suggested he would probably end his four-year spell on Teesside should 19th-placed Boro slip into the Championship.

But Southgate claims the Austria defender remains totally committed to helping the club retain their top-flight status.

"He phoned me on the day the stories appeared and he was very upset," Southgate told the club's official website.

"As always, when players go on international duty they have a lot of media commitments and from a 45-minute interview you can take bits and pieces and come up with a story that's a lot more damning than the actual interview.

"I've been through that myself as a player and I know the way it works.

"He's totally committed to trying to keep us in this division. Everyone knows his passion for the team and the way that he plays.

"He was particularly concerned that supporters will view it in the way people will when a story like that comes out.

"I've got no questions about his loyalty to the club so it wasn't an issue for me because I know the way these things come out.

"We were both conscious that the way the story was reported didn't look good and that's why Emanuel wanted to very quickly address that situation."