BEN GIBSON has reassured supporters that every Middlesbrough player will be revved up and ready to do everything they can to silence a sell-out Villa Park tomorrow night - and bag an end of season trip to Wembley in the process.

The challenge of promotion was made even harder on Saturday when Aston Villa gained the upperhand by leaving the Riverside Stadium with a one-goal advantage.

But Middlesbrough turned in a decent enough display to suggest they can cause problems for the Villans tomorrow when the two clubs will both strive to take another step towards the Premier League.

Gibson, wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Grant Leadbitter, is desperate to lead his hometown club back to Wembley and, ultimately, the top-flight.

And he is determined to make sure Middlesbrough do not make it easy for Aston Villa after Steve Bruce’s side edged ahead on Teesside.

Gibson said: “We know it won’t be easy, we know that they’re going to make Villa Park a cauldron, and we know everyone will be backing Villa to get to Wembley, I don’t mind that, we don’t mind that.

“We’ll go there and we’ll give it our best shot, it’s the kind of occasion you play the game for, we know they’ve sold out. Brilliant. Bring it on.

“I said to my family when I left the house before the game on Saturday, we play football for these occasions. Ever since I was a little boy, you dream of being part of these occasions so there’s no point fearing them.

“When I retire, I’ll look back on these days and I’ll miss that feeling in your belly, that fire and the eyes of the fans when you see them.

“The (Middlesbrough) fans were phenomenal and it’s a shame we couldn’t get that goal for them. There’s lots to be positive about and we are all looking forward to Tuesday.”

Middlesbrough will be heading to Aston Villa looking for positive signs – like one that suggests this is a fixture for the away side.

Villa’s victory at the Riverside means it is now 12 games since either Middlesbrough or Aston Villa actually won at home when they have faced each other in all competitions; that dates back to 2005 when Steve McClaren’s team lost.

Gibson, smiling, said: “Let’s hope it’s an omen, a carbon copy! It’s a good pitch down there, it’s sold out and it’ll be fiery and fantastic. There will be two good teams fighting it out to get to Wembley. That’s the reason why we play football and it will be brilliant.”

Gibson added: “We'll be geeing each other up in the dressing room, revving each other up, we'll get things going and that's what we do in this squad. We will be ready. We get that belief and look round the dressing room at the quality we have. We'll be quietly confident of getting the job done.

"I think we've won in the Carabao Cup (2-0) there this season and drawn (0-0) in the league when we had ten men for 85 minutes and Adama Traore was sent off, so there's nothing for us to be downbeat about. We can do it.

“Villa are a good side, we know that, but we're a very good side and we're going to go there and have a shoot-out away from home.”

Despite a strong Aston Villa performance, which included a starring role from the creative Jack Grealish and a strong defensive unit, the visitors only had one other effort on target after Jedinak’s headed opener in the 15th minute.

Middlesbrough controlled much of the play, particularly second half, and missed a number of opportunities to level matters, but there is no suggestion that confidence has taken a knock.

That could be because there are so many members of the Middlesbrough squad who have played in play-off battles before.  Gibson, part of that team which lost at Wembley to Norwich in 2015, said: "It's a rollercoaster and it will go right to the wire, it's only half-time and there's still a lot of football to be played.  “It won't be difficult for us to get up for the second leg after losing the first. Everyone gave their all and played well here, it just wasn't our day.

“We still have a chance to go there on Tuesday to upset the odds, the applecart and there's an opportunity to get to Wembley so we won't need any motivating for that. There won’t be any lads walking off with their head down because we all knew it's only half time and it's far from done.”

Even though there was only one goal separating the teams, the first leg was full of incident and tactical tinkering as Tony Pulis and Bruce tried to get one over each other.

Gibson said: "Without a doubt it showcased two very good Championships sides. Since the manager (Pulis) has come in in December we've got progressively better and better.  “This performance is another step on that ladder. Now it's crunch time, and we need a repeat performance with a little bit of added quality in the final third on Tuesday.

"Credit to Villa they defended really well, they're obviously a very good side and will be favourites but there's a lot of positives for us to take from that. We just have to nail down the final ball whether it's being more creative or whatever – we have got positives to take."

Even though the overall feeling was that Middlesbrough performed well against Aston Villa until they got in the final third, where they couldn’t find the breakthrough, there is no disguising the error that helped Villa edge ahead.

When Grealish floated a corner towards the near post, Ryan Shotton was caught out by the movement of Jedinak. The Aussie midfielder got a yard away from his man before glancing the opener in off the far post, where Middlesbrough didn’t have a man standing.

Shotton has played well for Middlesbrough this season, often providing the steel behind Traore to do his thing further forward.  Gibson, without naming names, said: "The worst thing about it was the goal we conceded. To concede that goal from a set-piece is terrible because we've been dominant from set-pieces.

"If we'd have been beaten by a wonder goal like the one where Darren Randolph saves from Rob Snodgrass, then you have to take your hat off and applaud it, but to have been beaten by a set-piece is not good enough.

"That's gone now and we have to focus on Tuesday, it's a quick turn around and something to look forward to. We can take a lot from the chances we created, Villa are a very good team and so are we. 

“There was nothing in this football match and it was decided by a set-piece. Often they're settled by those in our favour, but it was against us this time. We controlled large parts of this game. 

"We'll go there and no doubt everyone will say they're favourites because they have a goal advantage and they are at home, but we can do this.”