Middlesbrough Football Club

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

• Ground:Riverside Stadium
• Capacity:35049

Gibson won't give up the fight

25 Mar 2009 - 13:12:48

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Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is convinced his side can still avoid relegation to the Championship.

Boro have spent the last 11 years in the Premier League but Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Stoke City left Gareth Southgate's side four points away from safety with only eight matches of the season left.

Gibson admits he is concerned by the team's plight but remains upbeat about their chances of staying up.

He told the Evening Gazette: "I really understand the disappointment that the fans are feeling. I can tell you that I'm hurting too.

"It's not a personal situation we're in. It affects everybody, not just inside the club, but out of it too. It affects people's lives and therefore it matters.

"When you look at all the work that's gone all over the last ten to 12 years, going back to the days of Bryan Robson, it's all been with the Premier League in mind.

"We know that the work could be undone this season and I can give every fan a guarantee that every single person at the football club is working flat out to try to ensure that it doesn't happen.

"I still believe that this set of players is good enough to get us out of the mess in which we've put ourselves. That's not blind faith. We're in a very difficult situation and we aren't fooling ourselves.

"Can we stay up? Yes. Can we go down? Yes. But what we can do is to try to influence the situation so that things turn for us.

"We have to keep people believing that we can do it. We have to keep everything in perspective and make sure everybody keeps their chins up."