BEN GIBSON believes Middlesbrough have “turned a corner” thanks to their performances in the last four games, but the stand-in skipper admits it is imperative they do not allow their standards to slip when they come up against less lofty opposition in the remainder of the year.

Boro’s three-game unbeaten run might have ended when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, but having performed impressively against Arsenal, Bournemouth and Manchester City, Aitor Karanka’s side produced another creditable display against the new league leaders.

The defeat left the Teessiders just one point above the relegation zone, but the mood within the Riverside dressing room remains upbeat thanks to the quality of the performances that have followed last month’s disappointing home defeat to Watford.

The fixture list is about to get slightly easier, with five of Boro’s next six matches pitting them against teams in the bottom 11 places in the table, and while there is clearly a need to start turning decent displays into victories, Gibson remains convinced things are on the right track.

“We’ve set our levels now, and we’ve been saying that since the Arsenal game,” said the centre-half, who took over the captain’s armband at the weekend with Grant Leadbitter on the substitutes’ bench and George Friend unavailable because of injury. “We know what we have to demand from each other now.

“We need to keep performing like that, and fighting like that, in whatever game we play. If we do that, we won’t have any issues. We came up against a fantastic Chelsea team on Sunday, and we probably gave them the hardest game they’ve had for a long time. They won’t have found it easy or comfortable to come here, and that’s what we have to do to teams.

“I feel like we’ve turned a corner, but it’s a long season and we’ve got to maintain these performances. We have to maintain the drive, commitment and effort that we’ve shown in recent weeks.

“We need to keep hitting our levels. Ultimately, you’re going to lose games in the Premier League – we’re not going to be picking up points every single week. But it’s easier to swallow if you’re performing like we did at the weekend.”

Having successfully executed their game plan to claim a point against Arsenal and Manchester City, Boro came close to completing what would have been a notable hat-trick as they pushed Chelsea all the way at the weekend.

In the end, they were undone by a piece of slack defending as Diego Costa was afforded the opportunity to volley home from a corner and a couple of errant finishes as Adama Traore and Gaston Ramirez both failed to find the target from decent positions.

Boro were on the back foot for much of the afternoon, and some supporters and pundits have questioned whether Karanka was too negative, particularly in the final 20 minutes when the home side were unable to build up a head of steam.

Gibson has defended his side’s tactics though, and claimed it would have been suicidal to have been too open against a team with the attacking capabilities of Chelsea.

“If we go toe-to-toe with Chelsea, we’re going to lose,” he said. “Let’s not beat around the bush – we haven’t got the players they’ve got. To go man-against-man, and say let’s play against you player-against-player, it doesn’t make sense.

“Look at the money they spend, they’ve got the best players in the world for a reason. Their 11 is better than ours, we’re not naïve enough to think otherwise. So we have to come up with a solution and a way of stifling them, and the manager sets us up to do that.

“For the three big games we’ve played, we’ve done that brilliantly. We’ve carried the game plan out almost to a tee. It’s just been slight moments of concentration where we’ve maybe cost ourselves.”

The challenge now is for Boro to perfect a slightly different approach when they take on Leicester and Hull in their next two matches. Stifling superior opposition is one thing. Can the Teessiders prove as effective on the front foot when they come up against sides who are their direct rivals in the table?

“We need to start winning,” said Gibson. “But you have to look at the fixtures we’ve had and we are on a good run.

“We showed our attacking capabilities against Bournemouth, who are a fantastic side. I actually feel as though with our performances this season, we haven’t quite had the results we deserved. We haven’t had the rub of the green, but that’ll come.”

Gibson previously wore the captain’s armband in August’s goalless draw at West Brom, but Sunday’s game was his first experience of skippering his hometown club in a Premier League game at the Riverside.

It was an understandably proud moment for the 23-year-old, who produced another eye-catching display as he battled gamely against Costa.

“I only found out (about the armband) when I walked into the dressing room because it was on my peg,” he said. “I’d been captain down at West Brom earlier in the season so I had a guess, but you can never take it for granted. I was absolutely delighted.”