NOW apparently is a good time to play Leicester.

Terry Venables would agree with that, and it seemed fitting it was against the Foxes that Boro should go a long way towards guaranteeing Premiership safety.

In November, manager Bryan Robson certainly didn't believe it was a good time to play Leicester as Boro crashed 3-0 at the hands of Saturday's opponents.

The defeat was arguably the Teessiders' lowest point of the season and, within a month, Venables had been persuaded to take on the role of head coach.

The recovery began and apart from a few hiccups in February and March, the good ship Boro has steered a slow course away from the relegation rocks.

Boro have been beaten six times on their Premiership travels this term - only Leeds United and Manchester United have lost fewer away games - but a miserable return of three League wins at the Riverside has been their downfall.

Call it a release of pressure away from home, but Venables admitted: "We seem to play better away than at home. Our home form is something we've got to try to improve on."

With Manchester United due at the Riverside this Saturday, it was imperative Boro took something away from Filbert Street.

Venables said: "It' such a big thing for any club to want to stay in this league and of course the pressure is on - it's been on since I've been here.

"You've got to learn to live with that and know that until you deserve to be out of it, then you have to live with it."

Boro have been living with the pressure since Leicester visited and made it six League defeats in a row for Robson's men.

On Saturday, Boro made it eight defeats in a row for Leicester, to give themselves breathing space at the bottom and, although not mathematically safe, can now begin tentative planning for what will undoubtedly be a summer of transition with or without Venables.

The main fans will most want to see staying put is Croatian star Alen Boksic, who again showed what a world-class striker he is.

Five minutes into the second half, and with the game still finely balanced at 1-0, he picked up the ball in his own half, skipped past a challenge from Gerry Taggart, ran 50 yards and with Hamilton Ricard making a clever run to create more space, Boksic held off Gary Rowett and simply chipped goalkeeper Simon Royce from 25 yards.

As Venables said: "As a goalkeeper, when he's around anything up to 30 yards from goal and you've got to make sure your angles are perfect otherwise he'll catch you out."

Unfortunately for Leicester, that information is a little late for Royce, who was left clawing at air as the ball flew in.

Three minutes later, with the defence still shell-shocked, a half -cleared corner fell to Paul Ince at the edge of the box and it was game over.

To be fair to Leicester, their first-half performance warranted a goal, but when it mattered most Boro showed a ruthless streak that has been lacking from their game for most of the season.

The impressive Ricard opened the scoring on 11 minutes, latching on to a cross from Dean Gordon after a quickly-taken corner to head home.

Boro then lost their way and on 23 minutes both teams were lucky to still have 11 men on the pitch after an ugly altercation between Dean Windass and Robbie Savage, which saw them both cautioned.

Boro were thankful to keeper Mark Schwarzer, the crossbar and Ade Akinbiyi's woeful finishing which allowed them to go in ahead at half-time.

Schwarzer pulled off full-length saves from Steve Guppy and Dean Sturridge, before Damien Delaney hit the bar from 25 yards.

The rebound fell invitingly for Akinbiyi, but with Schwarzer still scrambling to his feet, the striker somehow managed to head over from eight yards.

The game was still up for grabs until Boksic produced his party piece and skipper Ince settled matters.

The travelling fans' chants of "are you Arsenal in disguise?" confirmed another joyous trip for the boys in red and white.

With the champions now looming, it's a fair bet former Old Trafford hero Robson couldn't think of a better time to start putting that home form right.