Source: SKY_Sports
Southgate ignores history
Gareth Southgate is ignoring Middlesbrough's history as he plots FA Cup glory and Premier League survival in the closing weeks of the season.
Boro reached both the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1997, losing both to Chelsea and Leicester, respectively, before slipping out of the league on the final day of the season.
This season, Southgate's side are battling to beat the drop and, despite their impressive 2-0 win over Liverpool last Saturday, slipped back into the bottom three with a 4-0 reverse at Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Next on the agenda for the Riverside boss is a trip to Goodison Park for their FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Everton on Sunday, with Southgate paying no heed to the unhappy events of over a decade ago.
He said: "It's not really of any relevance. It's recent history, but it doesn't have any bearing.
"It's a different group of players, a different group of staff - and we are looking forward.
"I hope we get to a final - that's the first thing; then it's for us to make sure we get our league form sorted.
"But we are only at the quarter-final stage at the moment with a hell of a game on our hands, so we can worry about those sorts of scenarios a bit further down the line."
Southgate remains confident that Boro can drag themselves out of the bottom three over the closing weeks of the season, especially as they are due to play a number of their relegation rivals.
He added: "It's all in our hands. We have got fixtures against teams who are in the pack above us, and they will be key.
"But we have known for a while that we were going to have to grind on and pick up results we weren't expected to.
"We did that against Liverpool, and that raised expectations for Tottenham - and had we got a point at Tottenham, that would have been a brilliant result for us.
"But we didn't, and the size of the defeat makes it look a lot worse - and obviously affects the goal difference. But it means there is no hiding place for any of us."
