STEWART DOWNING has paid tribute to the fantastic spirit within the Middlesbrough camp after his hometown club made it back to the Premier League.

Downing moved from West Ham last summer in a £7m move with the intention of getting Boro back in the top-flight.

After a 46-game Championship season, Boro did what they set out to do and the character and togetherness within the dressing room has been clear for all to see; particularly when they have needed to show their mettle.

Downing, Ben Gibson and Jonathan Woodgate are all from the town, while the likes of Grant Leadbitter and George Friend are strong leaders without hailing from Teesside.

But Downing thinks it is unfair to single out the English contingent in the squad and has thanked the overseas imports for buying into what Aitor Karanka and Steve Gibson wanted to achieve.

He said: “We have a core of local lads and I think that's important for a club like ours, but we've also got some unbelievable foreign players who have made vital contributions.

“They might not know everything about the town and the area, but it's nice to have a good mix. I'm sure the chairman's dream is for Boro to play in the Champions League with 11 local lads, but the important thing is that we set high standards and we all chip in.”

Chairman Gibson, was notable absentee when the celebrations were in full swing on the Riverside surface on Saturday, but he was beaming with pride from the directors’ box.

Downing said: “We saw the chairman for the man he is – instead of coming down on the pitch, showboating with the players and taking some of the limelight for himself, he stayed up there.

“People say it's all about the players on the pitch, and it is up to us to deliver performances and points, but it's his backing and his money which has helped us to do it.

“He has invested a lot financially, and emotionally, in the club. He must have been nervous, because we were nervous in that second half, but I couldn't be more pleased for him.”

From a personal point of view, Downing can head away on his holidays after this week’s celebrations have died down satisfied that he is back in the Premier League, at the club where it all started.

The former Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa winger, who left after relegation in 2009, said: “A lot of people must have wondered what the hell I was doing to leave a good Premier League club like West Ham, and if it had been anyone else coming in for me, I would have turned them down.

“I was enjoying my football there, I really like Slaven Bilic and I knew he would be a great appointment, but this was an opportunity I couldn't turn down. There's no place like home, and it felt like the perfect time to move back here.

“I had an offer from Sunderland but I didn't want to take it because my heart was set on coming home, and once I had spoken to the chairman here, I knew it was what I had wanted all along. I left on a sour note because we got relegated and I got injured.

“I only left Boro because I had ambitions to play for England, which was obviously not how I had planned it, so when I spoke to the chairman about coming back last summer, and his plans for the club, it was an ideal opportunity to come home. Winning promotion, which was our target from the start of the season, means I can put that sour note to bed now.”