IT has been a season to forget for Middlesbrough after failing to build on a promising start and Mustapha Carayol has also had to endure similar frustration on a personal front.

When Carayol cruised inside the penalty area against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night to strike the winning goal three minutes before half-time, there was an air of relief around the Riverside Stadium.

Not only had Middlesbrough fans finally witnessed an end to a goal-drought of almost six hours, Mowbray and his players had gained a lead to put them on the road to claiming only a third win in the Championship since the turn of the year.

The victory might have arrived too late to rekindle fading hopes of a play-off spot, but it did mean they no longer have to look nervously over their shoulders towards the Championship's bottom three.

Now the aim is to finish strongly in the remaining three matches to raise hope ahead of a further summer of change on Teesside - and Carayol is keen to make up for lost time next time around himself.

After an encouraging start to life at Middlesbrough, the 23-year-old was initially hit with a couple of niggling hamstring problems before suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury after the win at Blackburn on September 21.

"It's been tough for me to start the season decent like I did and then get injured. I guess that's football," he said. "The gaffer gave me a shot at this level and I have to repay him and the fans.

"Hopefully I can put out more performances to keep the fans coming to watch. I am buzzing for next season already and I pray I stay fit and make the fans proud of me."

Carayol was Middlesbrough's biggest threat going forward against Forest and it is that sort of presence on the wing which Mowbray will be desperate to see more of next season and at Bolton on Saturday.

"It was the first real injury of my career and I did feel a sigh of relief when I scored on Tuesday," said Carayol, who took his tally to four goals in a Middlesbrough shirt.

"Any game the gaffer gives me to play I am buzzing because I have missed so much football this season. I can't wait to get on the ball and the boys helped me a lot. I showed the fans what I can do and hopefully there is more games to come like that if I can stay fit. I want to help the team this season and the next.

"It was good to finally get a goal again. Kieron Dyer had been saying to me to look for the darting run when Josh McEachran gets the ball. I did that and my first touch was good, the second was to slot under the keeper. It was a nice feeling."

Carayol's first goal since February 9 proved enough to secure the three points in midweek and when the final whistle arrived it was a much-needed result for the whole club.

Morale has been drained around the squad and among the supporters in recent weeks. He said: "It was definitely needed. When the team is not doing well there is always a massive confidence loss.

"But we had a good chat in training the other day. We are a tight knit group and we always knew that if we could get it right we would get the right result.

"Over the last few weeks the luck has not gone for us. When we took the lead the players knew we had a really good chance of getting a result.

"It is very important to finish well. We had it in our hands to stay in the top six and we have had the craziest run of form I have ever seen. "It was a tough one to take and we owe it to the fans to finish strongly for them. Hopefully we can then go in to next season with a bit of confidence and take it from there."

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