CHRIS RIGGOTT is a man eager to make up for lost time and he wants to lead Middlesbrough's surge up the Premiership table.

Having missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury, Riggott made his first appearance of the campaign against Greeks Skoda Xanthi on Thursday night.

In the absence of Ugo Ehiogu, the 25-year-old slotted in at the heart of the defence alongside Gareth Southgate and helped ensure Boro kept the clean sheet that booked their place into the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

Riggott, a major part of the team that claimed a club-best seventh-place finish in the Premiership last season, has focused on trying to steer Boro back into the top half of the table after an inconsistent start.

"Had we won last week in the league against Sunderland then the table would have looked a lot different," said Riggott, ahead of tomorrow's trip to Aston Villa.

"Instead we are in the bottom half of the table, albeit with only six games gone.

"It is still early days so we know a good run of results will see us push up the Premiership pretty quickly.

"The collective spirit was there on Thursday.

"I know it wasn't the Premiership and, with respect to Xanthi, they are no Aston Villa.

"But we need to show that sort of attitude at Aston Villa, we have gone there and got results in the past and we need another one."

Riggott knows a better record domestically after games in Europe last season would have seen them finish even higher.

And, pointing to the fact a Champions League spot could well have been claimed, the centre-back wants to see Boro start as they mean to go on by heading to Villa Park looking for all three points - and a clean sheet.

"We shouldn't be tired. Tired legs are not an excuse and it shouldn't be the travelling. I wouldn't put it down to that because I personally want to play as many games as possible," said Riggott.

"We are going to have a lot more games on a Sunday and we need to sort out our form.

"We can't afford to drop points like last season. I don't know what the reason was but I don't want it to continue."

Despite playing just 45 minutes of reserve-team football last week, he was thrust into the spotlight in Greece and produced a performance which belied the fact he had been out of the first-team picture for so long.

And, with Ehiogu sidelined again tomorrow, Riggott will find himself playing two matches in four days when he plays at Villa.

"It's been a long time out for me personally and I was pleased. It was not entirely expected for me to start the game but it went OK and I feel OK," he said.

"A couple of weeks ago I would not have been expecting to be playing so soon but I played reasonably well and I'm happy to be back."

Read more about Middlesbrough here.