IN August Stewart Downing was forced to give up the battle against a knee problem that had plagued him all summer. When he did he left a Middlesbrough side with serious ambitions to break into the Premierships's top six.

He returned on Saturday to a team seemingly determined to gatecrash the bottom three.

Just exactly what's gone so horribly wrong must be perplexing Downing as much as it is the Riverside fans that have even turned on their own players.

Ugo Ehiogu's on-off-on-off move to West Brom finally died a death last week, and his appearance against Wigan as a first half substitute was greeted with jeers from a section at the Riverside.

Admittedly there weren't too many cheers during Downing's last game before his knee operation - a 3-0 home defeat to Charlton - but the 21-year-old knows better than most what the Boro fans now demand.

Born and bred in Middlesbrough, he remains true to his roots and there wouldn't have been many in the home dressing room hurting as much as the man from Pallister Park.

A folk hero he most certainly is and his return to first-team duties was greeted with rapturous applause by the fans.

He probably expected to play no more than 70 minutes, but with three substitutes already used by the start of the second half he put in shift of 90 minutes plus injury time.

Unfortunately, one or two of his colleagues appeared to have switched off by the time Neil Mellor struck in the 93rd minute.

But, result aside, Downing's return should be greeted with as much joy down at Soho Square as on Teesside.

Never blisteringly quick he looked far from leaden footed, and his pin-point crossing and passing were the one highlight of a quite appaling first half for the home side.

After Jason Roberts opener they should have been level on six minutes. A corner created by Downing's ball through to Yakubu was played quickly by the striker back to the left winger.

His ball in from the left was unerringly accurate for the forehead of the unmarked Emanuel Pogatetz eight yards out. Unfortunately the Austria international's header lacked the same precision and cannoned off the legs of Mike Pollitt to safety.

The tricks from Downing were very much in evidence with one backheel releasing Pogatetz down the left only for the defender to waste possession.

Boro were creating little in the opening period and what they did all came through Downing. On the half hour he spotted the run of Yakubu and a sublime ball through left the £7.5m striker one-on-one with Pollitt.

Yakubu appeared to be waiting for the offside flag that never came, and his attempted left foot lob was dreadfully executed with the ball drifting wide.

The introduction of Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink at half-time provided some impetus to Boro's play, and Downing used the extra mobility the Dutchman offered to good effect.

Switching wings with substitute Adam Johnson, he found as much joy down the right as the left. Boro's first goal came after a succession of corners from Downing ended with one finding the head of Hasselbaink.

The change to the right wing brought added danger for the England international with the fiery David Thompson keen to stop the regular flow of quality from his left foot.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the only aspect lacking was the willingness to get involved in the 50:50s, and when Thompson clattered into Boro's main hope of salvaging something out of the game, an incensed Steve McClaren was soon voicing his displeasure to referee Andre Marriner.

The knock was soon shaken off and, after a driven cross proved too powerful for Yakubu to direct his header with any meaning, another set piece led to the equaliser scored by the Nigerian.

A 50-yard free-kick from Downing caused mayhem in the Wigan box and the Latics defence were happy to concede a corner.

Downing's ball in from the left was flicked on by Gareth Southgate with the ball deflecting off the leg of Yakubu into an unguarded net.

There were no signs of Downing putting his feet up, figuratively speaking, and with less than five minutes left he still chased 50 yards to the left-back position to prevent Jimmy Bullard from gaining possession down the right, and then expertly robbed the same player a minute later before beating Graham Kavanagh and sending Hasselbaink racing clear.

His impact on Saturday could not be understated, and Boro's main hopes of surviving this season may rest in the feet of their homegrown talent.

His role in Germany this summer is still to be decided but, fitness permitting, his place in the national squad for the game against Uruguay on March 1 seems virtually guaranteed.