Relegation 'Double' For Boro And Mackems?

Boro now find themselves in the thick of the relegation battle after collecting just one point from their last six games.

Despite adopting enterprising tactics and levelling through Jeremie Aliadiere, they slipped to a 4-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It was their fourth successive Barclays Premier League defeat and their fifth in all competitions including a Carling Cup reverse at crisis-club Tottenham.

Southgate: "Results are what it is about and we need to pick up some points.

"We are in a position we are not comfortable with. We knew there was a strong possibility of that before the weekend's fixtures but, while we have to accept it, we don't like it.

"But there is no need for panic. What we have to do over the next seven or eight games leading up to Christmas is steadily pick our way out of it."

Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Roy Keane has admitted he may have to alter his training regime after witnessing a first-half horror show against Fulham in the 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The Black Cats turned in a spectacularly inept first 45 minutes to belie the manager's assertion that they can make a significant impact in the top flight.

What transpired before the break made a second-half fightback look perhaps a little more impressive than it was, and while Keane was happy to see his players secure a reward for their efforts, he is well aware that, to a certain extent, that simply papered over the cracks.

Keane: "We are asking players to keep pushing their bodies.

"That is well and good at Christmas or Easter, but so early in the season, it is something I don't like doing.

"As a manager, I have got to ask myself why we were so flat in the first half.

"Possibly we are training too hard, possibly we are pushing the players, and sometimes you can leave it out on the training pitch.

"Credit to our players, they train extremely hard. There is always that intensity, there are always tackles flying about.

"But then I ask myself why have we got a load of injuries?

"That is down to me as a manager and we have to look at that because in any game in the Premier League, if you start slow, it's not like a light switch, you cannot just switch it on.

"You have got to start quickly, and it was a long 45 minutes for us. But I am grateful that we got to half-time."