HE might have swapped a possible Carling Cup winners' medal for a probable relegation fight, but Jeremie Aliadiere insists he has no regrets about leaving Arsenal for Middlesbrough.

Aliadiere was glued to his television set on Wednesday night as Arsene Wenger's shadow squad brushed Sheffield United aside en route to the League Cup quarter- finals.

Last season, the Frenchman picked up a Carling Cup losers' medal at the Millennium Stadium after Arsenal lost to Chelsea and, had he remained at the Emirates Stadium, he would almost certainly have been an integral part of the Gunners side who are two rounds away from a second successive final.

Instead, Aliadiere is facing the prospect of a protracted relegation battle as Boro have claimed a solitary point from their last six Premier League matches.

But as he prepares to face Tottenham at the Riverside Stadium tomorrow, the 24-year-old insists he could hardly be happier.

"I watched Arsenal on the television on Wednesday night," said Aliadiere, who left his native France to move to Highbury when he was just 15 years old. "I know a lot of the players and I was pleased for them, but I certainly didn't look at it and think, That could have been me'.

"I don't think like that any more. I've left Arsenal and, even though I enjoy watching them play, I don't regret leaving all of that for one minute.

"That's not where I want to be in my career. I left Arsenal to play games in the Premier League. I didn't want to be one of those players playing in the Carling Cup and then doing nothing for the next two or three weeks."

Aliadiere made just 19 senior starts during his eight seasons with the Gunners, enduring unsuccessful loan spells at Celtic, West Ham and Wolves as he struggled to force his way into Arsene Wenger's plans.

Last season's Carling Cup run represented the pinnacle of his Arsenal career - the striker scored in January's 6-3 win at Anfield and the 3-1 victory over Tottenham at the competition's semi-final stage - but with England's second cup competition coming a poor fourth on Wenger's list of priorities, he hardly felt integral to the club's development.

Things are different on Teesside, however, and while injury has restricted Aliadiere to just six league starts, Gareth Southgate is already describing him as "vital" to his side's chances tomorrow in the continued absence of the injured Mido.

"I didn't feel that I was really involved in what was happening at Arsenal," said Aliadiere. "Just because you help them win a few games in the Carling Cup doesn't mean that you feel properly involved in everything that's going on.

"This season, I feel totally involved in what's happening at Middlesbrough. I play in the team every week and I feel more like it's my club.

"When I was at Arsenal, the team was playing well and fighting at the top of the table. But I didn't feel like I was part of it. I wasn't playing in those games, so they weren't really affecting me.

"This is the most settled I've ever felt. I'm very happy to have found a club where the manager gives me an opportunity to play every week. He lets me show what I can do without any restrictions.

I am free to play and that is great for me."

Things would be even better if Middlesbrough were not struggling in 17th place in the table following last weekend's 4-1 defeat at Manchester United.

There was little that was positive about the result at Old Trafford, but Aliadiere could at least take some solace from his first Premier League goal since 2002.

His sixth-minute header broke his Middlesbrough duck, and eased the pressure that was beginning to build following two goalless months on Teesside.

"The goal has taken a bit of the weight off my shoulders," he admitted.

"It was a relief. In my head, I was beginning to get disappointed and wondering when the first goal was going to come.

"You start to think about scoring goals all the time rather than concentrating on the other aspects of your game. When you're desperate to score, you tend to snatch at every chance that comes your way. Hopefully, the goal will help me be more relaxed.

I already feel more relaxed on the training ground just because I've got my first goal."

■ Middlesbrough have parted company with Graham Fordy, who had led their commerical team for 14 years and been closely involved in the club's successful recovery from liquidation in the 1980s. He left the Riverside "by mutual consent as part of an organisational review at the club," said a club statement.

He had previously been one of Boro's non-executive directors as part of a former role at Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.

"Graham leaves the club with our best wishes and thanks for his work and commitment in leading our commercial team at Ayresome Park and through our first 12 years at the Riverside."