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VIDEO: Middlesbrough v Manchester City press conference.
O’Neil feels Boro can now handle lesser fry
THEY have previously struggled
to beat sides in the wrong half of
the Premier League table', but
Gary O'Neil feels Saturday's 1-0
win over basement boys Derby
County proves Middlesbrough
have learned how to deal with the
pressures of favouritism.
Having failed to win home
games against Sunderland and
Reading this season, not to mention
the trauma of an FA Cup exit
at the hands of Championship
strugglers Cardiff City, last
weekend's game was hardly a formality,
despite Derby's record of
just one Premier League victory.
This month's battling 1-1 draw
at Arsenal had confirmed Boro's
liking for the role of plucky underdogs,
but asserting their superior
status against supposedly
lesser opposition remained a task
that had previously proved too
much for the Teessiders.
It was hardly the most comprehensive
of successes, but Saturday's
victory bucked the trend
of under-achievement. And with
games against Bolton and Sunderland
still to come in the final
seven matches of the season, it
could yet provide the template
for further displays of strength.
"It's all very well being able to
handle the pressure of playing
against an Arsenal or a Manchester
United, but you also have
to cope with the expectations
when you're playing a side everyone
expects you to beat," said
O'Neil. "It's a different kind of
pressure when you're playing
against a team like Derby.
"In the past, we haven't necessarily
been great at seeing off the
Derbys of this world, but we've
been trying to work out different
ways of coping with the pressure
that comes from a game like that.
"It's difficult. The fans expect
you to win, and the whole country
expects you to pick up three
points without breaking sweat.
The best teams take all of that on
board then go out and do the
business.
"A lot of it comes down to patience
and believing in yourself.
If it's 0-0 after half an hour, it's
easy to panic and think, We
should be winning this game by
now'. The secret is to stay calm
and have the strength to carry on
doing the good things in your
game. I think the win against
Derby proved that, as a group of
players, we're capable of doing
that."
With Bolton and Birmingham
both failing to record victories,
the one-goal win also
lifted Boro eight points
clear of the relegation
zone.
The gap is not
yet an unassailable
one, but given
the number of sides
still involved in the relegation
battle, it is hard to
imagine Boro surrendering
their top-flight status if
they win one of their remaining
seven matches.
Back-to-back games
against Chelsea and Manchester
United are hardly
the ideal way to start
that run, but having
drawn at both Aston
Villa and Arsenal this
month, Gareth Southgate's
side will travel
to Stamford Bridge
this weekend in a
confident mood.
"If we get another win,
or another four or five
points, it's going to be
difficult for either
Bolton or Birmingham
to catch us," said
O'Neil. "We have
a nice little
cushion now.
"With so
many teams
involved in the
bottom half
you normally
get a couple of results
go your way,
and thankfully
that's what happened
for us at the
weekend. It was a
big day at the end
of a big week for
the club.
"Bolton and
B i r m i n g h a m
have been cut
adrift a little
bit. We have a
fair gap, but we
have some
tough games
coming up so we can't afford to
take anything for granted.
"We need to go to Chelsea and
perform with the same spirit and
discipline we showed at Villa and
Arsenal. If we do that, you never
know what might happen."
Southgate is likely to maintain
his policy of fielding two attackers
at Stamford Bridge, with Tuncay
Sanli's recent form making
him all but undroppable, despite
the presence of record signing
Afonso Alves on the bench.
Saturday's strike made it six
goals for the season for the
Turkey international - enough to
make him Boro's joint leading
goalscorer - and O'Neil has been
impressed with Tuncay's contribution
in his first seven months.
"He's scored some important
goals," said the former
Portsmouth playmaker. "As a
midfielder, he's a great player to
play with because he pops up in
some fantastic positions.
"He gets himself into key
areas, and that makes a midfielder's
job easier because he's
always giving you options."
9:14am Tuesday 25th March 2008
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