WITH the Premier League form chart providing precious little cause for optimism, Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has delved deeper into the history books in an attempt to remain positive ahead of tomorrow’s crucial home game with Hull.

Middlesbrough are rooted in 19th place in the table, five points adrift of safety, ahead of their relegation showdown with the Tigers, a seemingly helpless position with just seven games of the season to play.

But while time is against the Teessiders as the Premier League survival race enters its final furlong, history is actually on Boro’s side.

In each of the last four seasons, the team in 19th position with seven games left has clambered to safety.

West Brom (2005), Portsmouth (2006), West Ham (2007) and Fulham (2008) all staged great escapes when the odds were against them, and having previously described tomorrow’s game as a “mustwin encounter”, Southgate is urging his players to draw inspiration from the successful escapologists of the past.

“The last four seasons, the team that’s been second bottom at this stage of the season has got out of it,” said the Boro boss, who will be without the injured Emanuel Pogatetz and the suspended Gary O’Neil this weekend.

“So there’s evidence that it can be done. None of them were on a good run approaching this time of the campaign.

“You have to take inspiration from that, because it shows it’s been done before. Anything is achievable, but sometimes you have to break through a barrier that’s never been broken before.

“We don’t have to do that.

We just have to follow what’s been done before, and the fact it’s already happened should give you confidence.

“Other teams got out of it because they turned things around. We have players who can win a game from nothing, and that’s what we need to happen now.”

While Boro had only won one match from 18 prior to last weekend’s trip to Bolton, the manner of their subsequent defeat at the Reebok Stadium still had a profound effect on the morale of the club’s supporters.

From a position where they were fearing the worst but remaining optimistic, many fans appear to have accepted relegation as an inevitability given a fixture list that still includes matches against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Southgate is not attempting to hide from the seriousness of the situation in which he finds himself, but the Boro boss has spent the first half of this week accentuating the positives that still exist ahead of winnable home games against Hull and Fulham.

“You never accept defeat in anything until the last gasp of air has gone,” he said. “If you quit on anything in life, you’ll do it again and again. No one accepts we’re down, but everyone understands how difficult it will be.

“If we beat Hull, everyone down at the bottom will be looking over their shoulder no matter who they are, even those that are five points clear of us now. That’s why winning this game would have a huge impact on everything.”

The carrot of survival is obvious, but as a further motivational tool, Southgate also called a team meeting this week to brandish the stick of relegation.

While clubs such as Stoke and West Brom have spent the whole of the season mounting a survival bid, Boro have tumbled into the heart of the relegation battle from a position of relative strength.

Complacency might well have played a part, and with a failure to take all three points tomorrow almost certain to result in a drop to the Championship, Southgate has pulled no punches in spelling out exactly what that would mean to a club of Middlesbrough’s standing.

“Everyone’s aware of what the impact of relegation would be,” he said. “It would impact on the whole club and whole town.

“The players know that and are desperate to do well.

They’re living with this all hours of the day. It’s their livelihood and they don’t go home and switch off - it’s their work and everything else. You never leave it behind.

“They’re desperate to stay in the league, but at the moment all we can affect is the game (tomorrow). A win against Hull is vital.”

■ Middlesbrough’s game at Newcastle has been rescheduled for Monday, May 11 (ko 8pm) for coverage on Setanta Sports. Boro’s home match with Manchester United has also been moved to Sunday, May 3 (4pm), although it will be rescheduled again to Saturday, May 2 (12.45pm) if United qualify for the semifinals of the Champions League.