THE TENSION was etched on Terry Venables' face for virtually all of the 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

He afforded himself the odd playful bit of banter with the Boro hordes housed behind the dug-out.

But there was no disguising what head coach Venables later described as "the agony'' of it all as he watched his side spurn the fleeting chance of an implausible victory.

Dean Windass, brought in from Bradford City for £1m to boost Boro's firepower in the desperate battle against relegation, marked his debut with the goal that threw the Teessiders a 54th-minute lifeline after Gianfranco Zola had left them in arrears at half-time.

But an appalling back-pass by Noel Whelan set up Chelsea's interval substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen to deliver the decisive blow shortly after the hour-mark.

With it went Boro's hopes of extending the uncomfortable four-point gap between themselves and a bottom-three place.

Venables transformed Boro's season when he took the reins from besieged manager Bryan Robson and lifted them off the foot of the table by launching an unbeaten 12-match run in League and Cup, with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Riverside in December.

In contrast, this was Boro's second defeat in four Premiership games and, though Venables still strives to accentuate the positive by looking at the broader picture of his Teesside tenure, the strain is starting to show on the former England boss.

He said: "I can't complain too much - this is actually only the second time we've lost in 14 League games.

"I've always said the relegation issue would go right to the end. If you start looking at how it might end up and where you're going to pick up points, you drive yourself mad.

"It's a tough business and you've got to go through all the agonies to get where you want to be.

"The rigours of the job and the feelings you have make it tough. The agonies and the pressures are on all the teams. You've got agonies even if you're at the top, but they're different to those you have if you're at the other end of the table.

"If you're in the bottom three, it's dreadful because you're talking about the whole futures of those clubs.''

The futures of Venables, and Robson, are also the stuff of fevered debate. Venables resists any attempt to elicit an answer about whether he could be persuaded to remain with Boro beyond the end of the season, when his five-month agreement runs out.

A lucrative deal awaits with ITV as chief pundit on the new 'match of the day' next season.

After the impact Venables has had on Boro, many would love to see him extend his Riverside stay.

His carefully-guarded statements on the matter can, at times, be construed both ways.

On this occasion, it seemed he was hinting at new horizons.

"I don't want that problem on top of the other things we've got,'' he said. "Whatever my feelings are, I don't think it's going to be beneficial to talk about them now.''

Venables is right to keep the focus on the fight for Premiership survival.

Against his old club Chelsea, he had enough on his plate contending with the absence of three players through suspension - skipper Paul Ince, Ugo Ehiogu and Phil Stamp - plus the loss of right-back Curtis Fleming with a toe injury.

Centre-back Jason Gavin, in only his fourth start this season, was a surprise choice to fill Fleming's boots in an emergency role.

But Boro soon had problems on the opposite side of defence, when left-back Colin Cooper suffered a hip injury in a challenge with Mario Stanic after only two minutes and was forced out of the action.

Cooper's replacement, Keith O'Neill, was making his first appearance for seven weeks after injury and suspension.

But the Republic of Ireland international made an immediate impression with a last-ditch tackle on the goal-bound Sam Dalla Bona, before supplying an in-swinging corner which Windass headed disappointingly wide with the goal at his mercy.

It proved a costly miss in the 35th minute when Zola met Celestine Babayaro's left-wing cross with a near-post header which beat Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer.

One-time Boro target Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink should have added a second seven minutes before half-time when he drove wide after being released on a turbo-charged run by skipper Dennis Wise.

After the break, keeper Carlo Cudicini saved bravely at the feet of O'Neill before Alen Boksic prompted the move for Boro's shock equaliser.

The Croatian, with three men crowding him, cleverly worked the ball to Christian Karembeu who swept a first-time cross to the far post where Windass stooped to head in.

Chelsea, however, always looked more threatening and Stanic missed a sitter before Gudjohnsen capitalised on Whelan's wayward ball.

Cool-headed Icelandic international Gudjohnsen, a striker who came under Boro's scrutiny in his formative days, punished a suicidal act by lifting the ball beyond the exposed Schwarzer.

Stanic then forced Schwarzer to make an excellent near-post save, but it was the vision and awareness of Boksic which almost conjured another leveller.

The 11-goal striker sent a dipping volley narrowly wide of the goal as the game slipped away from Boro