Middlesbrough Football Club News

• Nickname:Boro
• Founded:1876
• Manager:Tony Mowbray

• Ground:Riverside Stadium
• Capacity:35,049

Critical Taylor wants better

19 Jan 2009 - 14:51:30

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Middlesbrough defender Andrew Taylor has warned his team-mates they will only avoid relegation should they produce a dramatic improvement.

Ailing Boro lost 3-0 to fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion at the weekend to leave them languishing in the drop zone and level on points with the bottom placed Baggies.

"Getting beaten 3-0 in any game is bad enough but, when it's against one of your main rivals at the bottom of the league, it's quite embarrassing really," the England Under-21 international told the club's official website.

"Everyone's down, everyone's disappointed but the manager's just said that we're in a fight and we have to try and stick together.

"The decisions didn't go for us but we can't just blame it on that - we didn't play well. We had plenty of chances that we have to start taking but we've got to defend better as well.

"We've got to try and keep calm and get the lads going but it is difficult. With the position we're in, I think everyone's just lacking in confidence so we have to fight hard to get out of it.

"Personally I think we can be tighter and more mentally strong as a group and that's what we have to do to get out of the relegation zone."