BRIGHTON 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 2

AS a born-and-bred Teessider, Ben Gibson can gauge the state of Middlesbrough’s fortunes by the amount of calls and messages to his mobile phone. If his family and friends want to speak to him, things must be going well. If he’s getting the cold shoulder, it’s a safe bet results haven’t been quite as positive.

So while the sight of Boro sitting third in the Championship table should be sufficient confirmation of the club’s positive progress, the 21-year-old centre-half would rather use his social calendar as a measure of their standing.

After Saturday’s 2-1 win at Brighton made it eight league games without defeat, Gibson is a man in demand.

“I seem to be a bit more popular at the moment,” he joked, after goals from Lee Tomlin and Albert Adomah secured a fourth away win in six matches. “My phone seems to be going off all the time, and more people seem to want to spend time with me and go out with me so we must be doing something right!

“You can sense a real buzz around at the minute, and that’s great. I probably notice it more than most because I’m a local lad and I’m out and about and meeting people all the time. Even when you’re just walking down the street, you can sense the excitement and it’s nice to feel that.

“It’s important we get that positive atmosphere going because it’s good for the town and we need to get back in the Premier League not just for the football club, but also for the town as a whole. It’s early days yet, but hopefully we’re going in the right way.”

Saturday’s win added further credence to Boro’s status as strong promotion candidates, not so much because of the quality of their football, but more because of the workmanlike way in which they soaked up considerable Brighton pressure while twice ripping through their opponents on the break.

This was a very different Boro performance to the free-flowing style espoused and preferred by Aitor Karanka, but it was no less impressive as a result and augurs well for this week’s games against Wolves and Watford, two sides in the top seven positions in the table.

Faced with a Brighton side that tend to dominate possession thanks to their slick, precise passing style, Boro’s players were on the back foot for long periods and spent much of the game penned in their own half.

However, aside from the 88th-minute headed goal from Gordon Greer that set up an unexpectedly nervy finale, the Teessiders successfully restricted their opponents to a handful of half-chances from distance and a succession of square balls in midfield that never looked causing a problem.

Gibson and Daniel Ayala were pillars of strength at centre-half, Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton worked tirelessly to prevent Brighton’s midfielders breaking beyond their centre-forward, and while Adomah and Adam Reach were not as evident in attack as they would no doubt have liked, their defensive work to protect Ryan Fredericks and George Friend was hugely impressive.

In a league as competitive and relentless as the Championship, an ability to grind out results is every bit as important as possessing the talent to tear teams apart. Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that Karanka has assembled a squad capable of ticking both boxes.

“We can play and win in different ways,” said Adomah. “We don’t have to play keep ball and pretty football, sometimes it is just as important to win your tackles and defend as a team.

“That was a game where there was a lot of pressure on us, but we always knew that we could get out of it and that’s what happened.

“Normally, we play passing football but, against Brighton, we have to be honest and admit we came up against a team that can probably pass and keep the ball better than us. But we found a way around that and caught them on the counter really well.

“Last season, we used to attack teams and not score, and then the opposition would get one chance and score against us. Now, we are capable of doing the reverse. The pressure was on us, but we got a couple of chances, scored and won the game.”

Boro’s opener came in the eighth minute, with Tomlin steering home a first-time shot from the edge of the area after Reach had pulled the ball back following a break down the left.

Brighton dominated possession for the remainder of the first half, but while Friend had to produce an excellent sliding block to deny Inigo Calderon, Dimi Konstantopoulos was not tested until he saved a routine low shot from Kazenga LuaLua shortly after the break.

Five minutes later and Boro had doubled their lead, with Adomah stabbing the ball past David Stockdale at the second attempt after Ayala had played a slick one-two with substitute Jelle Vossen before breaking down the right.

Greer’s late header threatened a sting in the tail, but proved nothing more than a consolation as Boro’s back four repelled a succession of hopeful balls into the box.