GRANT LEADBITTER hopes his own FA Cup form helps to earn a recall to the first team stage in the Premier League so he can help Middlesbrough avoid relegation.

Three of Leadbitter’s last four starts have been in the cup and hopes his performances have persuaded head coach Aitor Karanka to put him in the starting line-up more often in the league.

His penalty against Oxford on Saturday was his third goal in six appearances during a season when Boro’s failure to score enough has prevented them from climbing away from the relegation zone.

Karanka will decide in the coming days whether to name his team captain in the starting line-up at struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday, a fixture which could lead to Boro dropping into the bottom three if they lose.

Leadbitter, who missed the start of the season because of hernia surgery, said: "I've scored a few recently. I was out a long time injured so I told myself when I got my chance, I wanted to make the most of it. I want to play for this football club.

“The FA Cup quarter-final is a great one for players to play in but right now, we have to focus on our next game and it's an important one. So we have to forget about the Cup now.

“It's been good winning in the Cup but we have to start winning in the league.

"We have to stay in the Premier League and all of us know that means winning more games. If you want to call a Cup run a distraction from the league, so be it, but it's a nice distraction as far as I am concerned.

"We are happy to be in the next round and would have been upset if we'd gone out but the Premier League is our main objective. We want to stay up and get as far as we can in the Cup.”

Boro have been paired with Manchester City or Huddersfield, depending on who wins the replay, at the Riverside in the quarter-final.

It is the first time the Teessiders have reached that stage since 2009 and Leadbitter said: “The Cup win is good for the football club. The club deserves it. We want to go as far as we can in this competition. Hopefully having a home draw can help.

“FA Cup quarter-finals don't come too often so we have to make the most of it. We said that before the Oxford game, to make sure we got through. In the end, we only scraped through.”

Leadbitter’s penalty was soon followed by Rudy Gestede’s first for the club since his £6m move from Aston Villa, only for Oxford to score two quick goals to make a fight of it.

But Cristhian Stuani delivered with four minutes remaining to make sure Boro didn’t fall foul of Oxford like Newcastle did in the previous round.

Leadbitter said: "There are plenty of Premier League teams that have gone out and while there are some big teams still left in it, you never know what can happen.

"We were watching the Burnley v Lincoln game and that ensured there was no complacency and that showed in the first half. We did not want to be on the wrong end of another giantkilling.

“Oxford did not surprise us. They saw it as their Cup final, they never gave up. Lower division teams rarely do so credit to them. But in the end we got through and that is the most important thing.”