AS the Middlesbrough players were warming up ahead of Saturday’s ‘must-win’ game with Hull, the Riverside music controller played a dance compilation that had been specially assembled by midfielder and part-time DJ Stewart Downing.

By the time the final whistle blew, the act seemed appropriate.

When it comes to surviving the relegation battle at the foot of the Premier League table, Middlesbrough are now right back in the mix.

“We have given ourselves hope, and you just never know,”

said Boro boss Gareth Southgate, whose side have closed to within two points of safety and moved level on points with 18th-placed Newcastle United.

“I think we deserved the win, and it’s now about what we do from here on in. We have possibly got ourselves back into the race, and that will have had an impact on the rest of the teams at the bottom.

“We have been out of it for a long time, but we have shown we can win a scrap, just as we had previously shown we could outplay Liverpool.

“There is hope there, and we will not stop until every ounce has gone and every breath has passed. The important thing is that we have shown we are still fighting.”

Crucially, the Teessiders also showed enough spirit and ambition to suggest that Saturday’s victory might not be an isolated incident in the final six weeks of the campaign.

Yes, they were playing against Hull, a side who are every bit as bad as West Brom at the moment, and who appear destined to play a central role in the relegation battle themselves unless they can spring a surprise at Sunderland on Saturday.

But when you have only recorded one win in 19 league games yourself, any success is not to be sniffed at, and once the dust has settled on Middlesbrough’s 3-1 win, the boldness of Southgate’s approach may well prove the most pivotal factor.

Necessity is often said to be the mother of all invention, and with little to lose given his side’s parlous league position at kick off, the hitherto cautious Boro boss finally released the shackles that had constrained him in the first 31 matches of the season.

Afonso Alves partnered Marlon King in attack, Downing and Jeremie Aliadiere poured forward down the flanks, and Tuncay Sanli roamed free in the hole behind the two centreforwards.

Only Matthew Bates appeared as a defensive screen, and while the formation inevitably resulted in an open, end-to-end game, it is surely no coincidence that it also prompted Boro’s most inventive and productive attacking display of the season.

It will be interesting to see whether Southgate is brave enough to repeat it when Fulham, a more dangerous side than Hull, visit the Riverside for an equally crucial fixture in five days time.

“It was a gamble,” admitted the Boro boss. “But in the position we’re in, we have to gamble and be brave. We knew it would be loose, but we thought that was a risk worth taking.

“It was a calculated gamble because we know Tuncay plays in that role for his country, so we knew it wouldn’t be something that was new to him. Having said that, though, he probably played even better than we thought.

“We have said for the last three weeks that one result would change things psychologically and mathematically, and that has happened so who knows?

“Fulham will be very different to Hull – they’ll be solid and not leave things so open – but we have to be as positive as we were in this game.”

As positive, and as passionate.

Tuncay’s attacking abilities were apparent in Boro’s third-minute opener, with the Turkey international following up Alves’ low strike and capitalising when Hull goalkeeper Matt Duke could only palm it across his own six-yard box.

But it was the 27-year-old’s willingness to graft and grind that really caught the eye, as positional discipline was allied to a steeliness in the tackle that would not normally be associated with one so skilful.

“We needed people to handle the occasion and do the simple things,” said Southgate. “I was absolutely delighted when I saw the captain of Turkey hoofing the ball away because that was what was needed.”

He was also on his feet to applaud Downing when he tracked back fully 60 yards in the second half to thwart Dean Marney’s attacking run, and after a succession of tame surrenders, this was finally a performance to silence those who have questioned the attitude and commitment of the players in the Middlesbrough squad.

Predictably that commitment was crucial, as having claimed the lead as early as the third minute, Boro duly conceded it in the ninth.

The Teessiders failed to clear Hull’s first corner of the game, and when former Boro midfielder Nicky Barmby recycled the ball from the right, the onloan Manucho rose highest to plant a powerful header past Brad Jones.

Less than ten minutes played, and Boro’s bubble had already been burst.

The setback proved temporary, though, and after Alves has blazed a decent opportunity over the crossbar, the hosts deservedly reclaimed their lead shortly before the half-hour mark.

Tony McMahon’s corner caught the Hull defence napping, and Bates stole ahead of Manucho to prod home the first senior goal of his career.

“He wasn’t where he was supposed to be,” laughed Southgate.

“I said, ‘Batesy is not where he’s meant to be’, and then all of a sudden he scored.

But I don’t mind the players taking responsibility and organising themselves at that end of the field.”

There was one scare in the second half, when David Wheater was forced to head clear from his own line, but the points were secured when former Boro skipper George Boateng conceded possession in his own half, and King galloped clear to score.

The on-loan striker left Hull’s KC Stadium under a cloud in January following a series of run-ins with Tigers boss Phil Brown, and their relationship is clearly anything but cordial.

“I tell you what, why don’t you send that up to Phil Brown,” was King’s tongue-incheek response when he was handed the sponsors’ man-ofthe- match champagne in the tunnel in the wake of Saturday’s game.

“I picked him for this game about seven weeks ago,” said Southgate. “I didn’t bother saying anything to him beforehand, because I knew he had plenty to prove.

“It’s been tough for him here, but he showed a bit of devilment and a physical presence.

He took his goal well, and hopefully this is just a start for him.”

Just the start of things. With six games to go, everyone in Middlesbrough will be thinking the same.