THERE comes a point in every promotion campaign where footballing ability can only take you so far. Middlesbrough reached that point on Wednesday evening.

Phrases like ‘bottle’, ‘commitment’ and ‘wanting it more than the opposition’ can seem somewhat passé in a footballing world increasingly obsessed with possession statistics and tactical minutiae, but for all that the game has moved on, there are still moments when traits that might be regarded as old-fashioned come to the fore and feel like the main things that matter.

That was certainly the case as Boro’s players attempted to regroup following the first-half dismissal of Dimi Konstantopoulos in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham City, and it will no doubt apply again in the remaining 15 matches that will determine whether Aitor Karanka’s side achieve their ambition of winning promotion.

Boro played some attractive passing football in the second half at St Andrew’s, but that wasn’t the attribute that stood out in the final reckoning. It was the Teessiders’ refusal to give in that was most commendable, an indefatigability that enabled them to shrug off their man disadvantage and rally to claim the point that took them back to the top of the table.

In the face of considerable adversity, Boro’s players proved they would not be cowed. Of all the positive attributes they have displayed this season, that stance augurs as well as any.

“We know there’ll be plenty of twists and turns, but I think we’ve shown we can cope with that,” said skipper Grant Leadbitter, whose driven second-half performance at St Andrew’s established a template for the rest of his team-mates to follow. “If people were wondering whether we could cope when the pressure got turned up, I think we answered that a bit at Birmingham.

“In the second half especially, I think our character came through. It was a really poor goal to give away, and then the sending off obviously made things worse, but the manager came in and said a few words at half-time and there was a real resolve among the lads that we weren’t going to let a big moment slip away.

“We were determined to fight to get to the top of the league, and I think you could see the spirit and character, as well as some decent football in the second half.

“We’re going to need all those things in the next 15 games, and I’m sure everybody will be trying harder against us now because we’re there to be shot at. We have to deal with that within the group, but I think the big characters we’ve got have shown they’re willing to step forward.”

Amid all the talk of overseas additions and Premier League loanees, it has been easy to overlook the successful way in which Karanka has nurtured a sense of spirit and camaraderie within a group that could easily have splintered into a number of factions had his leadership not been so astute.

Players have chopped and changed at regular intervals, some powerful figures, such as club captain Jonathan Woodgate, have been shuffled to the periphery and newcomers have arrived at various stages to dislodge positional rivals who had previously been firmly-established members of the team.

Yet at no stage has it been possible to discern any dissent. If anything, the willingness to buy into the team ethic has only increased, and while Karanka has clearly learned a few tricks of the trade from Jose Mourinho, a master at forging a sense of unity within his team group, Boro’s Spanish head coach has quickly developed his own leadership style that combines a powerful blend of authoritarian control and paternal support.

“We’ve got a good spirit and a good character, and a lot of that comes from the manager,” said Leadbitter.  “He makes us think about the team and the importance of sticking closely together as a group.

“You could see that from the way we stuck together against Birmingham. When we were in the dressing room at half-time, we spoke about how we wanted to help Ben (Gibson) out because he’d made a mistake. We got him out of a hole because we’re a strong group of players and we wanted to rally round him. We did that, and came away with the point that got us back to the top of the league.”

The challenge now is to stay there, with the first test coming tomorrow lunch-time as Leeds head to the Riverside for a game that has historically had plenty of edge. Win, and Boro will open up a four-point advantage before Bournemouth and Derby take on Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday respectively, a psychological development that could have a powerful effect.

“The manager made a great point recently when he said we’ve reached the stage where you can’t get points back now,” said Leadbitter. “At this stage of the season, you can’t claw back points that you’ve dropped.

“We’ve got 15 games to go. Can we win them? Yeah, I think we can. We’re top of the league and we want to stay there.”

* Middlesbrough’s game at Watford on Monday, April 6 (Easter Monday) will now kick-off at the earlier time of 12.30pm. The trip to Norwich City has been brought forward to Friday, April 17 (7.45pm).