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GARETH Southgate last night urged his Middlesbrough players to set up an FA Cup semi-final appearance at Wembley to ensure Jeremie Aliadiere is able to play at least one more game in the competition this season.

Paddy Kenny's 113th-minute own goal handed Boro a dramatic extra-time victory over Sheffield United last night, and secured a home quarter-final with Cardiff City on March 9.

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink will make a return to the Riverside for the last-eight clash, but Aliadiere will not feature after an FA regulatory committee imposed a four-match ban for the striker's dismissal for violent conduct in last weekend's 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.

Aliadiere's increased suspension is the latest in a long line of setbacks to have hampered Middlesbrough's progress in the last 18 months, with the League Managers Association having questioned Southgate's right to manage in the Premier League before he was even appointed as Steve McClaren's successor.

And with Southgate having encouraged the adoption of a siege mentality in the build-up to last night's game, the Boro boss is urging his players to book a semi-final spot so that Aliadiere experiences at least one more FA Cup outing this season.

"Things like this can work in our favour," said Southgate, who watched Kenny palm the ball into his own net after Mido's deflected strike had ricocheted off the post.

"I've told the players that no-one from outside this club is going to help them and I think they've taken that on board.

"We've had it all in the last 18 months, from the LMA to the FA and the Premier League, but this week's events have been particularly disappointing.

"It's annoying and upsetting for Jeremie in particular, but it's been difficult to deal with for all of us. To be honest, I think the FA's description of our appeal as frivolous was an insult.

"I thought it was insulting in the extreme. We've lost the appeal, but we have to make sure we stay in this competition so that Jeremie can play in it again."

Boro needed 120 minutes of football to keep their FA Cup hopes alive last night, with a number of opportunities going begging in normal time before Kenny's own goal prevented the need for penalties.

"In terms of how long we were out there it was certainly value for money," said Southgate. "We had enough chances to have been comfortable, but the longer it went on, the more the prize at stake took its toll on the game.

"The game got scrappier and, in the end, it was a scrappy, fortuitous goal that got us through.

"It means we've still got plenty to look forward to and it keeps everybody's hopes and dreams alive. We've seen that the difference between the two divisions is minimal so we certainly won't be taking Cardiff lightly. But it's an opportunity for the players to get some reward for a season that's been a real slog at times."

Meanwhile, PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor yesterday backed Boro chairman Steve Gibson's criticism of the FA's handling of his club's appeal against Aliadiere's dismissal.

Aliadiere originally received a three-match ban for violent conduct, but after Boro officials appealed against the decision on Monday, an FA regulatory commission increased the Frenchman's suspension to four matches.

Gibson described the committee's ruling as "perverse" in a live BBC television interview during the half-time interval of last night's game, but admitted FA chairman Brian Barwick had claimed there was "nothing else" the governing body could do.

Taylor also discussed the issue with Barwick yesterday, and sympathised with Middlesbrough's position.

"I think what we want to see on all sides is justice and this does not seem to be anything like that," said the PFA chief. "The person I feel most sorry for is the player himself. He is entitled to justice and I don't think that has happened in this instance. To miss four games for the offence he has committed appears, on the face of it, completely ridiculous."

Taylor also expressed concern at the private nature of the FA's regulatory hearings, and criticised the failure to invite Middlesbrough officials to outline the reasons for their appeal in person.

"That to me seems totally wrong and, to be frank, absolutely astonishing," said Taylor. "I don't think there is a single example I know of where an appeal is held behind-closed-doors and you are given no idea who is on the panel. I fully understand where Boro are coming from and I can see why they are angry."

2:02am Thursday 28th February 2008

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