LOCAL lad Ben Gibson has turned up the heat ahead of Saturday’s Championship showdown with Brighton by urging his team-mates to ‘go out and make history’ for his hometown team.

A point is required from the final day match-up with the third-placed Seagulls to seal Middlesbrough's return to the Premier League.

And Gibson, brought up on Teesside, would love nothing more than to help his club back to the big time after seven years of waiting.

He was just 16 and part of the club’s academy when relegation happened in 2009 and now, 12 months after suffering heartache at Wembley in the play-off final, he has a chance to enjoy a promotion party once more.

Gibson said: “There’ll obviously be more intensity and more media hype surrounding the game, but we’ll just get on with it, get our heads down and train in the same way that we have all season.

“There have been ups and downs, but we’ve come through the lot of them and we’ve got one more opportunity to make history and make what will probably be the best day of our lives.

“You want to get into it. You know how big the occasion is going to be. I’ve dreamed of playing in games like this for Middlesbrough ever since I was a little boy.

“I thought the play-off final was going to be one of those amazing days, but it turned out to be one of the worst days. We’ve got another opportunity now to go and make the best day of our lives, and the best day of many Teessiders’ lives. Let’s go and make it happen.”

Boro recovered from a blip in March by embarking on a nine-match unbeaten run which has put them on the verge of an automatic promotion spot. They have drawn their last three matches, though, but Gibson still thinks a packed Riverside will give them the edge.

He said: “We’ve got to encourage the fans to get behind us, but I know that they will. They live for days like that at the Riverside, as I do. Let’s hope we can make this one of the stand-out ones. I truly believe we can and I’m sure they will as well.

“Maybe we’re due a win. You can look at it that we’re unbeaten for quite a while, and that’s a good thing, but we are due a win now. Let’s hope we’re saving it for Saturday.

“If I’m honest, I thought we were better against Ipswich and Burnley than we were against Birmingham last Friday. There were times when we weren’t as good, but we still played some very good football. You can look at it as glass half-full or glass half-empty – I’m definitely looking at it half-full.

“We’re unbeaten for a long time now, and I fancy us going into the last game. We’ve got very good players, and players that will handle the big moment well. We’ve got a rocking Riverside as well – what more could you want?”

Given his local roots, Gibson is being inundated with requests for tickets for the match – just like he was last week at Birmingham.

He said: “We’ve done well against the teams up at the top of the table, and people will look on that positively, but I think that all goes out of the window for a cup final like this.

“It’s a one-off game, and what’s done is done. We just have to forget about that, look at this game and get ready for it. Provided we win, it’ll make it an amazing season and an amazing few weeks.

“I’ll have to go into hiding over the next few days to be honest. People were knocking on the door all last week for tickets, and that was only for the Birmingham game. It’ll be the same as any other week, and we’ll be trying to take it as normally as we can.

“We’ve shown over 45 games that we can handle pressure. That’s why we are where we are. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll handle it again and win the game and get up to the Premier League.”

Boro are monitoring George Friend’s injury. The left-back did not train last week because of a hamstring problem picked up at Burnley on April 19, but he has not been ruled out of the last game.

Ritchie de Laet has deputised and he could still create a bit of history by winning the Premier League and Championship in the same season.

He started the campaign by playing 12 times for Leicester so is entitled to a Premier League winner’s medal and he will be due a Championship equivalent if Boro can overtake Burnley on the final day.

The Clarets are at Charlton on Saturday and if they lose, and Boro win, de Laet will have two medals to savour.