IF MIDDLESBROUGH are relegated next month then fans can point the finger in the direction of many individuals.

Manager Gareth Southgate for persevering with his footballing ethos despite a run of 14 games without a league win, and his less than successful dealings in the transfer market.

Record £12.7m signing Afonso Alves for proving that when you look at goals scored in the Dutch football you should divide by three when predicting the potential return in the Premier League.

Chairman Steve Gibson and chief executive Keith Lamb for stubbornly refusing to deal with Tottenham in their much-publicised pursuit of Stewart Downing despite the player putting in a transfer request – the cash could have been used to bring in two or three new faces in January.

There are many more potential scapegoats but one of the club’s longest-serving players doesn’t want anyone to single him out for blame.

Mark Schwarzer turned out 446 times for the club placing him eighth in the all-time appearance list, but the 90 minutes he played on Saturday for Fulham may have as big an impact for the Teessiders as any he played in his 11 years at the Riverside.

The three saves he pulled off just after half-time – one routine, one very good and one outstanding – were the difference between the sides.

The first from Tuncay Sanli was clawed away from almost behind the line even producing congratulations from the Turkey international.

“Mark Schwarzer was the man of the match and that says it all,” said Downing. “I joked to him afterwards that he didn’t do that for us!

“It’s a great save to keep out Tuncay’s header. We did everything but get that goal, hopefully we’ve saved it for the weeks coming up.”

The problem is there’s only five of those weeks left and a trip to Arsenal is followed by the visit of Manchester United.

Schwarzer’s heroics may have been enough to confirm relegation.

“I don’t think they’re going to go down on these two points (dropped),” said Schwarzer. “It’s on their performances over the 38 games.

“You can’t pinpoint one game and say okay it’s your fault now because we took two points off them. It’s a culmination of 38 games over a season.

“The league table doesn’t tell lies, you’re in that position because of various reasons. If you’re not good enough you’re not gaining the points each week then you’re justifiably in that position.”

The point may have moved Boro up a place after Newcastle’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday, but wins for Sunderland and Portsmouth meant they are further away from safety than before Saturday’s kick-off.

Middlesbrough started the game in positive mood but, despite lots of pressure, Schwarzer was never called into serious action in the first half.

The two best chances were Fulham’s – Brad Jones’ fingertips deflecting a cross away from Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson hitting the post from just outside the area.

Schwarzer then took centre stage. Less than two minutes after the re-start Jeremie Aliadiere produced a peach of a cross from the right with Tuncay arriving perfectly only to see his header pushed clear by the Australia international.

He then pushed over Downing’s goalbound drive before tipping over a c r o s s - c u m - s h o t from Tony McMahon.

Apart from a shout for handball after Dickson Etuhu turned his shoulder into a block, that was about it from Boro’s perspective.

Their labours appeared to take it out of the Boro players with Fulham looking the more likely to score late on.

However, they appeared to be more than happy to take the point and Schwarzer hopes his heroics won’t confine the Teessiders to championship football next season.

“The ideal scenario for me is Fulham getting into Europe and Boro staying up,” said Schwarzer. “Of course if Boro went down I’d be disappointed and sad. I’ve got a lot of friends here and it affects everyone. It’d be sad but unfortunately that’s the way it goes, three teams have to go down and if you don’t accumulate the points over 38 games you end up going down.

“But they’re not one of the three worst sides in the division.

I’ve never been in a position as bad as they are now (while at Boro).

“Over the course of 12 years at the club we performed pretty well and stayed clear of that. There were a lot of good times and success so it’s unfortunate they’re in this position.”