A matter of life or death

With two weeks of the season to go, the region’s three biggest sides fill three of the bottom five places in the table.

Tonight, two of them lock horns at St James’ Park, with Middlesbrough travelling to Newcastle for a game that starts with both sides in the bottom three.

In the words of Gareth Southgate, the North-East survival battle has turned into a “street fight”. And while they will kick off tonight’s Tyne-Tees derby as the lowest-ranked of the region’s sides, the Middlesbrough manager is confident his own club will ultimately come out on top.

“This is an area where football is more important in people’s lives than anywhere else in the country,” said Southgate, who has never lost at St James’ Park as a manager. “In terms of people’s day-to-day lives, football means much more.

“The amount of comment and thinking about it is incredible, and the game is certainly more prominent than in any other area of the country in which I’ve played.

“From south to north, this is the area where people are most passionate about the game, and will spend most time thinking about football.

“In that respect, you don’t want to see any of the clubs fail. I have a lot of time for (chairman) Niall Quinn at Sunderland, and know a lot of people involved at Newcastle as well.

“Ideally, you’d hope everybody would survive, but in reality, one of those clubs in almost certain to go. Our job is to make sure it’s not us. It becomes a street fight, and we have to make sure we come out on the right side of it.”

With Hull having lost to Stoke on Saturday, Boro go into this evening’s game knowing a win would leave them level on points with the struggling Tigers.

Their recent form hardly augurs well, however, with Southgate’s side having failed to record a Premier League victory away from the Riverside since early November, and posted just two wins in their last 23 league fixtures.

Another winless evening would leave them with one foot firmly in the Championship, but while Magpies manager Alan Shearer has sought to underline the importance of tonight’s game, claiming it is the biggest he has ever been involved in, Southgate has chosen to temper the significance of the season’s final North-East derby.

With two games still to play – against Aston Villa and West Ham – Middlesbrough’s fate will not be sealed no matter what happens on Tyneside tonight.

“I know it’s vitally important to this football club, and I’m not trying to play it down in any way,” said Southgate.

“But I’m also trying to maintain a sense of perspective.

“Whatever happens, we will wake up on Tuesday morning and we will still have to beat Aston Villa. Because both teams are involved at the wrong end of the table in this match, it has added to the intensity, but I think it would be wrong to suggest it is the be all and end all.

“We could win it and not make it, or we could fail to win it and still get out of it. It’s a game that both teams desperately want to win, and if we win it, it could give us the points and momentum that can carry us to safety in this league.

“Everybody’s going to hype it, but it’s a game I always thought would be very important in terms of our survival.”

While Boro and Newcastle go into tonight’s match with identical points totals, the two squads could hardly be more different in terms of their make up.

Newcastle are packed with experience, and while the likes of Nicky Butt, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka have failed to sparkle this season, their know-how could prove vital in an atmosphere that is sure to be highly-charged.

Boro, on the other hand, boast the youngest squad in the top-flight, but while many commentators are expecting that to be a disadvantage tonight, Southgate feels it could play into the Teessiders’ hands.

“The psychology will be very important,” he said. “We can help with that by talking to the players in the right manner before the game and explaining what they are going to have to do. But ultimately, they are going to have to go through the process and see how they come out the other side.

“There will be a good atmosphere and a real sense of occasion, but sometimes experienced players don’t handle that as well as young players.

Some players relish big matches and others don’t.

And sometimes, you can only find that out by playing them to see what happens.”