Southgate searching for Boro spark

Boro slipped to within one place and a single point of the drop zone when they were comprehensively beaten 2-0 by Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

It was their third successive league defeat and meant they have taken only one point - courtesy of a derby draw with Sunderland - from the last 15 on offer, and with a daunting trip to Manchester United to come on Saturday, there is growing unease on Teesside.

Southgate's mission has not been helped by injuries to the likes of Emanuel Pogatetz, Julio Arca and Jeremie Aliadiere, and while the 37-year-old remains confident there is much more to come from his team, he knows the recovery must start soon.

He said: "The fans are desperate for something to get them going and I do think since the Sunderland game with the late goal we conceded then and the injuries we picked up then, everything has gone a little bit flat.

"We have got to get that spark back. Saturday was going to be a tough day to do that against the quality of opposition we were up against.

"But if we had started the game better, it might have been an afternoon to be able to do that.

"We didn't and we know it is a difficult period for us - that's not unexpected.

"But we have to maintain a sense of perspective. We were in a similar position this time last year, we have got plenty to come back into the side and into the squad.

"We have to work hard together to get ourselves out of the position we are in, and we will do that.

"But it won't happen overnight. There has been a lot of change and there will continue to be change.

"In many ways, I thought the amount of change and the things we had to deal with, the bulk of it would have been done last year.

"But it is still ongoing, so the things I have to maintain and work at with the players are very similar to what we faced last season."

In fact, 10 games into last season, Boro were three points better off after wins over Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle and draws at Arsenal and Bolton.

This time around they have collected maximum points just twice - at Fulham and against Birmingham at the Riverside - with derby draws against both the Magpies and the Black Cats on Teesside making up their tally of eight points.

Southgate admitted injury-hit Chelsea's trip to the north-east had been seen within the dressing room as a real opportunity after the Blues had lost on their previous two league visits.

However, a third defeat never looked like materialising and the manager now faces the task of raising his players for the challenge of meeting a Manchester United side which trounced Aston Villa on their own park at the weekend.

Boro have a good recent record at Old Trafford - they have lost only one of their last six league games there - and returned last season with a hard-earned point, although Southgate knows history alone will count for nothing.

He said: "We have got to find a bit of a spark this week because we could have said that about Chelsea coming here.

"They had lost their last two coming here and there was a great feeling in the dressing room before the game. But we didn't get out of the blocks.

"Old Trafford is a great place to go and play football, and we have got to go and get something from the game next week."