THE vultures were circling over Middlesbrough shortly after their defeat at Newcastle last Monday.

In the aftermath of what Gareth Southgate described with trademark restraint as “a difficult evening” he began to receive phone calls from agents eager to prise his most talented players away from the club.

All enquiries were instantly rejected.

In the dressing room at St James’ Park on Monday night and at the Rockcliffe training ground the following morning, Southgate reminded any players preparing to scramble for the lifeboat of a move to another club to first concentrate their efforts on keeping Boro afloat.

“We haven’t had any enquiries from managers as yet,” revealed the Boro boss who admitted he’s considering handing David Wheater a start against Aston Villa tomorrow.

“I have had calls from certain agents and that disappoints you, but I am not naive enough to think it doesn’t go on.”

With their survival rivals pouring over the potential permutations of the final two games of the season, Boro face a more straightforward challenge: win both matches and pray for some luck.

Victory against Martin O’Neill’s side at the Riverside tomorrow afternoon will stave off relegation at least until Sunderland play on Monday. With Villa on a run of relegation-style form that’s yielded just seven points from their last ten games, Boro have an excellent chance to end their home campaign on a high note.

But at his pre-match press conference yesterday, Southgate was clearly irked by reporters more inclined to engage in a post-mortem on Boro’s season rather than focus on the team’s immediate challenge.

“We have to keep this thing alive on Saturday. If we take it the distance something strange could happen,” he insisted.

“Personal agendas have to be put to one side. The players should not be looking for the liferaft but must strive to keep this side up.

“I would be very disappointed if players weren’t entirely focused on Saturday’s game and winning. I’ll remind them of the jobs and their professional obligations, they’re very much our player until their contract runs out or we decide we’re prepared to accept an offer.

“Collectively we haven’t done enough, so collectively we have to try and get ourselves out of it in these last couple of games.”

Tuncay Sanli’s brace at Villa Park in November helped secure what Southgate believed was one of the best results of his three seasons as Boro manager.

It also fired the Teessiders into the top eight of the Premier League to inspire dreams of Europa League qualification. Six months on and Southgate’s attentions are now focused on the harsh reality of Boro’s current plight.

“The reality is this is a tough division and you do whatever you can to survive,’’ he said. “Nobody can feel we’re too good to go down.

“Being good covers lots of different qualities. You need technical ability, mental and physical toughness so if you don’t survive in the division then you’ve not been good enough. We have technically good players but its the whole package that matters.”

Southgate will assess the mood in the dressing room before deciding what he’ll say to his players at a quarter to three tomorrow afternoon.

While he struggled to take any positives from the wounding defeat suffered on Monday night he believes the experience, however painful, will prove character-building for some of his side.

“The young players now know what it feels like to go into a game of that importance – the smell of it, the build up and the realisation that the hullabaloo that goes around it means nothing.

You’ve just got to perform in the game. They’ll be better prepared for that scenario in the future.

“We’re looking to regain a bit of pride after the local derby defeat.

“We’ve got to make sure we give a performance that shows a hunger and passion to stay in this league.”