GARETH SOUTHGATE appears to have all but reconciled himself to England rejection as he concentrates on winning his fight to be fit for Middlesbrough's derby clash with Newcastle United.

The Boro skipper was omitted from the previous two England squads and injury ruled him out of contention for the party which flew to Turkey yesterday.

Southgate has been critical of England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's managerial style, and it is unlikely he would have been called up for the crunch Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul even if he had been fit.

There was a time when Southgate would have been frustrated at the prospect of having to watch proceedings from afar on TV.

But for once the 33-year-old centre-back is welcoming the international break as he joins the likes of Boro teammate Massimo Maccarone in the battle to regain full fitness. Southgate, who has missed Boro's last two games with a groin problem, said: "Given the injury list we have, every break is welcome here at the moment.

''Certainly since the last break, we have picked up the level of performance. We have found a shape and formation to the team which is suiting us and I feel the attitude of the team has improved.

''Of course, we would have liked a better result last Sunday against Chelsea, but we have a cracking fixture coming up next weekend and plenty of time to prepare.''

Boro's three-match winning run was brought to a halt by Chelsea's last-gasp 2-1 victory at the Riverside, and Southgate added: "The lads were very low in the dressing room afterwards. I thought we had done everything possible to win the game.

"But it was a really uplifting second-half performance and it was a great shame we weren't able to see it through to the end.

"I thought there was only one team who were going to win it in the second half, but that one bit of quality from Chelsea right at the end took it away from us. Generally, though, anybody who saw the game would know that there's only one way we're going in the table if we play like that.''

Meanwhile, the FA yesterday deferred an announcement over whether Boro defender Franck Queudrue faces a charge for his involvement in the incident which led to the sending-off of Southampton striker Kevin Phillips nearly a fortnight ago.

* Young forward Craig Dove completed his proposed one month loan move to Third Division York City yesterday. The 20-year-old is followed out of the Riverside door by 21-year-old centre-back Phil Gulliver, who has moved to Bury for a month. Midfielder Mark Wilson's temporary switch to Swansea has been extended.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.