TONY MOWBRAY saw another North-East manager lose his job this week - and admitted that a lack of expectation on Teesside has made his own job that little bit easier to manage.

Steve Bruce was relieved of his duties on Wednesday night, with his Sunderland team fifth from bottom in the Premier League, and while Middlesbrough boss Mowbray expressed sympathy for his counterpart, he is all too aware that the management game is a ruthless one.

He said: "Supporters want to see results, success, they want to see their team perform.

"Generally the owners know better than supporters because they know the financial constraints and how the nuts and bolts are working, clubs generally don't make that public.

"The only thing that is published is results, and we take it on the chin, that's the business. When you lose your job there may be other reasons why but they don't become public."

When Mowbray was installed as Boro manager last October, many pointed to his Redcar roots as being a positive factor in his appointment.

But with Bruce's Newcastle leanings being cited as a reason for his failure on Wearside, Middlesbrough's manager believes that location is not an issue when it comes to success.

He added: "Results build that along the way. It wouldn't have mattered if Steve was from Mars, if they'd been winning and were in the top four, it wouldn't matter.

"You look over at Newcastle and there's a Londoner managing, and doing it well, I don't think you hear any dissenting voices.

"Arsene Wenger is a Frenchman and he's been there for many years, Rafa Benitez is a Spaniard and he was there a while. It doesn't matter."

Boro suffered their third defeat of the season against West Ham United on Tuesday, and while Mowbray recognised that their promotion bid would not be helped with a second successive defeat, at Bristol City on Saturday, the low expectations at the start of the season have ensured a relaxed atmosphere on Teesside.

He said: "What is the expectation of this club this year? Do you know, do I know - we're trying to improve, we're trying to win matches, we've found ourselves at the right end of the table, so I think at this moment we've got a desire to stay there and see where it takes us.

"The expectation level had been lowered so much that I think at the start of the season nobody in Middlesbrough was expecting promotion, yet at the start of last season they were bookies' favourites and expectation was high.

"I don't think Tuesday was a reality check, we more than matched them yet I could feel their composure with the players they had. They didn't pepper our goal, it was a pretty even match, but sometimes when you are one down, you leave yourself vulnerable to a 94th minute goal. It's disappointing to lose a game, but let's see how the season unfolds.

"We shouldn't be disappointed with fourth place after 19 games. I think the majority of people on Teesside would take that at the start of the season. We have to recover from that defeat and bounce back and keep going.

"If you look back a year you could reverse the table - we were probably fourth bottom then - so at this moment we shouldn't be too disheartened to be fourth top. In 19 games we've lost three. It's not a crisis, we have to remember that and keep pushing on."

Boro's visit to the South West finds The Robins in rude health under new manager Derek McInnes, currently six unbeaten and managing victory against league pacesetters Southampton. But Mowbray is confident that Boro's own record will be enough to give Bristol much to worry about.

He said: "It's a tough game, away to Bristol, six unbeaten, they drew at West Ham and beat Southampton. They've found some form, and I think Derek's pushed a magic button at Bristol and got them going, so it's a big test for us.

"You don't go into games with negative pressure. We see an opportunity to go away from home and get three more points.

"Generally we have been good away from home, we've reacted well to the defeats. If we get beaten on Saturday it'll be no disaster, we wouldn't be the first team in football to lose back to back games.

"There are teams who have lost six or seven on the bounce so it is what it is.

"We move on to the next game and we go to Bristol expecting to win, but I'm also mindful of the great run they've been on."