UGO EHIOGU has admitted the loss of on-loan striker Benito Carbone for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal is a major blow.

Carbone, scorer of Boro's first goal in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa, has been a crucial influence in the Riverside club's recent Premiership revival. Steve McClaren's men have lost just two - to West Ham and Liverpool - of the ten League games played since the diminutive Italian arrived in February.

The 30-year-old, who is expected to be signed on a permanent basis this summer, has been a revelation and has helped Boro to ninth in the top flight.

But Ehiogu, while knowing Cup-tied Carbone's creativity will be missed against the Gunners at Old Trafford, is convinced the Teessiders can cope without the striker, who is on loan from Bradford City.

"He will be a huge miss because he has provided so much class and guile to our side," said Ehiogu, who knows that influential skipper Paul Ince is suspended, seven-goal Noel Whelan is almost certainly out with hamstring trouble and top scorer Alen Boksic missed the Villa clash with a groin injury.

"But after all we have reached the semi-finals without Beni so I'm sure we can do it again. The team spirit which exists now means that filling in the gaps left by all the players who are out is not a big problem. That's what we'll be hoping for again on Sunday.

"We've had suspensions and injuries all season so we are used to it. We would prefer to have all the big guns playing but there's nothing we can do about it."

Ex-Villan Ehiogu headed in Boro's winner on Saturday and he was delighted to silence the travelling support who had jeered him and teammate Gareth Southgate all afternoon.

The £8m man admits the abuse bothered him but all he was concerned about was grabbing the winner against his old employers.

"It was very emotional when the goal went in. I love to score and I love scoring against Villa," said Ehiogu, whose goal at Villa Park last year ensured Boro claimed a point.

"I have a striker's mentality, after all goals are what the game is all about.

"Playing up front is not a job for me - it's too difficult - but I still fancy my chances of scoring a goal.

"The number of quality set-pieces we are getting now is always going to help and I always fancy scoring."

He added: "The stick I get definitely worries me a bit. I try to keep focused and shut it out but it still comes through.

"To score was something special and that's my second against them since I left."

Boro have lost just three in 20 games - a tremendous turnaround considering they lost their opening four Premiership fixtures. And Ehiogu insists the side's current form has been down to the great sense of team spirit.

"Maybe the fifth game of the season when we got our first win was when it all started to pick up," said Ehiogu, who is still hoping to make England's World Cup squad.

"We had been getting an awful lot of stick for losing the first four and we could feel the pressure - but it's just gone on from that first win we had over Northampton and then West Ham.

"As you win more you get more belief and more confidence.

"What has also helped is that we have gone on and got good results against the big teams, which is obviously going to have a huge effect."

Read more about Middlesbrough FC here.