STUART Parnaby has urged his Middlesbrough team-mates to go "back to basics" in an attempt to prioritise points over performance and haul themselves away from the Premiership danger zone.

Steve McClaren's men turned on the style on Tuesday night as a five-goal salvo either side of half-time earned a routine replay win over Nuneaton and booked a place in the FA Cup fourth round.

But, while Chris Riggott's 34th-minute goal sparked a flurry of activity in the Nuneaton goalmouth, it came at the end of an opening period in which Boro had been forced to match their opponents' physical strength before they were able to assert their footballing superiority.

The likes of Lee Cattermole, Adam Johnson and Matthew Bates refused to be cowed by opponents almost twice their age, while even the likes of Mark Viduka and Aiyegbeni Yakubu displayed a steely resolve that was absent from their play during Saturday's horror show at Highbury.

With the ever-industrious Wigan due to visit the Riverside on Saturday, Boro's battling qualities are likely to be tested again.

While Parnaby would like nothing more than a repeat of the flowing football that put Manchester United to the sword earlier this season, the versatile defender accepts that, in the current climate, the right result is the priority.

"We have to get back to basics," said Parnaby, who admitted he did not know what to do after scoring his first senior goal in Tuesday's 5-2 win.

"Forget about playing this way or that, the only thing that's important at the minute is getting back to winning ways.

"It might be a case of grinding things out for while. Well if that's the way it has to be, that's the way it has to be.

"I think we showed we can be gritty in the games against Manchester City and Newcastle. Until we get everybody back, it's probably going to be a case of more of the same.

"If we can scrape three results together we'll be looking good again. We just need to get an undefeated run going. It doesn't really matter how that happens, we just need the points.

"When things are going against you like they are at the minute, you have to grind games out and get points on the board. All the players at Middlesbrough are capable of doing just that."

While Tuesday night's victory ended a six-game winless run, it did little to quell the anxiety that accompanied last weekend's humiliation at the hands of Arsenal.

The seven-goal humbling left Boro just one place above the relegation zone and, just as importantly, dented the confidence of a side that contained six teenagers by the time the final whistle blew.

Parnaby admits it has been difficult to obliterate the memory of last weekend's Highbury humbling but, after Tuesday's success booked an FA Cup fourth-round tie with Coventry, the mood has already changed.

"It's not easy when something like Saturday happens," admitted the 23-year-old. "Nobody is pretending that you can just wipe it from your memory banks, but you have to put it behind you and get on with the job in hand.

"It was a bad day, but it's not going to make or break the season. If you keep it in your mind you're going to struggle again in the future.

"We've proved that we've moved on from that. What happened at Arsenal has happened, we can't do anything to change it. But we can make sure we don't go through anything like it again and that's what's driving us forward.

"It might seem like a strange thing to say but, for the young lads, it might prove to be a valuable experience. I know I certainly don't want to feel like I did on Saturday night again. If you can learn from that and move forward, I think it says a lot about what type of person you are."

The challenge now is to maintain the cathartic process against Wigan. Paul Jewell's side enjoyed their own cup success on Tuesday - a penalty shoot-out win over Leeds - and will travel to the Riverside looking to capitalise on any lingering unease in the home side's ranks.

McClaren accepts that the pain of last weekend's thrashing will not vanish overnight but, after watching his side rally against Nuneaton, he is looking for another rousing response on Saturday.

"I hope the confidence carries over," said the Boro boss. "But it won't come back in one split second or through one good performance.

"We may have to grind out more performances before we play as we know we can do. We have to get through on attitude and grind out the right result.

"It was important to win on Tuesday and I thought the response I was looking for was there. A lot of people were waiting for us to fall flat on our face but that didn't happen.

"The younger lads, in particular, responded superbly to what had happened at the weekend."

In the absence of new acquisitions, those same younger players will be forced to dig deep again against Wigan.

McClaren continues to scour the transfer market but, with resources at a premium, new blood is proving difficult to find. Southampton utility player Rory Delap remains no more than a tentative target at this stage, while Leeds midfielder Eirik Bakke will not be arriving at the Riverside this month.

Australian defender Ljubo Milicevic has been watched again recently, but any move for the FC Thun stopper would be mired in difficulty.

Milicevic has hardly figured for his international side in the last 12 months and would be extremely unlikely to be awarded a work permit to play in England.

* Ugo Ehiogu is heading back to Middlesbrough after West Brom announced they had ended their interest in the defender.

Albion cited a failure to agree personal terms as the reason for their failure to strike a deal following protracted negotiations with Ehiogu and Boro.

Boss Bryan Robson had hoped to sign Ehiogu on an 18-month deal but chairman Jeremy Peace admitted: ''We have done everything we can but it is just not possible. The goalposts keep being moved and enough is enough.''

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