BACK in July when Gareth Southgate left Aston Villa for Middlesbrough, he knew the time would come to return to take on his old employers.

That day came on Saturday and it was even worse than he had expected.

It was not just about the 31-year-old going back to his old stamping ground, he was joined by Ugo Ehiogu and Boro coaches Steve Harrison and Paul Barron.

Harrison and Barron got off lightly from the Villa fans, but Ehiogu and Southgate were not so lucky.

From the moment the two teams walked out onto the pitch the 18,000 in the Holte End at Villa Park vociferously abused Boro's two centre-backs.

Southgate, named captain in the absence of suspended Paul Ince, tried to win over his old supporters by raising his hands above his head and applauding them - it had no effect whatsoever.

And the £6.5m capture revealed he actually reveled in the atmosphere, he said: "In the end I enjoyed it.

"It was a bit of an ordeal which I could have done without, but that's football.

"I have got to be honest and I did not expect it to be quite as bad as that.

"It was a bit of a shame the fans reacted the way they did but as a footballer you have got to get on with it.

"It's good to get it over with because it's one of those fixtures you don't want to be looming over you all season."

It was quite fitting that Southgate and Ehiogu were absolutely outstanding against the Villans.

The home side's manager John Gregory commented afterwards that their performances were exactly the reason why he did not want the pair to leave.

And to make a goalless bore draw even more pleasing for both players, they kept Villa's advances at bay and thwarted a chance for Gregory's men to go top of the Premiership.

Villa went into the game with the best home form in the top-flight and were occupying a Champions League place.

But despite the Midland club's turnaround since Southgate's departure, the England international insists he is pleased for them.

"I keep reading I must be embarrassed by the way things are going at Villa but that's not the case," said Southgate.

"I still speak to most of the lads here but what happens at Villa now has nothing to do with me.

"I have got a big challenge trying to help the manager lift this club.

"I would say they are better now than when I was here and I'm sure that will delight a lot of Villa fans.

"But I still have a lot of friends here and I want to see them do well."

Villa were by far the better of the two sides on the day and Gregory's assumption that they lost two points was a fair one.

But the hosts' failure to break down the resolute Boro back-line in the end proved costly.

Visiting keeper Mark Crossley, deputising for Mark Schwarzer who was on internatioanl duty, hardly had a save to make and was solid throughout.

But for a Juan Pablo Angel strike that rocketed off the bar early on, Villa had very little to show for their huge share of possession.

Danish keeper Peter Schmeichel, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday, was also rarely troubled.

One moment of magic from Slovakian Szilard Nemeth seven minutes before half-time could have given Boro the lead.

The striker turned superbly on the half way line and ran at the Villa defence, but his shot flew high and wide when he should have found the target.

That was basically that and the game ended 0-0, despite a late onslaught from Villa which saw Alpay Ozalan miss a close range header and Lee Hendrie shoot wide.

And Southgate was delighted after grounding out a hard-working point.

"We have to look at this game and say that we have taken a creditable point," he said.

"Villa are a good side, there's no mistaking that, and it was going to be hard.

"We maybe did not pass the ball as well as we could have done but we have shown great resilience that was not there earlier in the season.

"We are all developing into a team now and playing as a team.

"It was a new system to play for a lot of us and we are showing we are now adapting."