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MIDDLESBROUGH v WIGAN ATHLETIC - POST MATCH REACTION
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate declared himself happy with the progress of his side after tonight's important win against Wigan.
Jeremie Aliadiere struck after 18 minutes as Boro saw off their fellow strugglers 1-0 at the Riverside to move five points clear of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone.
Boro should have had more breathing space, after tearing the visitors apart in the first half - and Emile Heskey went close to denying them late on - but Southgate was satisfied.
The former England defender said: "I was really pleased with the first half. We were playing with some freedom and played some terrific, flowing football.
"We opened them up and should have had more than the one goal.
"Going into the break having played so well in that opening half hour but only having the one goal, just maybe rocked us on our heels a bit.
"From then on I think everyone was edgy for the following 45 minutes. What we had to do was dig deep - and we did.
"The back four were very resilient, and the goalkeeper (Mark) Schwarzer has made a terrific save to keep us in front."
The downsides for Boro were a number of injury problems. Tuncay Sanli tormented Wigan early on but left the field with a hamstring injury; Aliadiere also did not finish because of a pre-existing groin problem, and Stewart Downing suffered a bang to the knee.
The outlook is worse for Wigan, who slipped into the bottom three as a result of their defeat.
Manager Steve Bruce, however, remains upbeat and saw reason for optimism in his side's performance.
He said: "I thought in the first 10 minutes we were excellent, nice and bright, but then their front two caused us all sorts of problems for a 10 to 15 minute period - and we were lucky to survive.
"I couldn't wait to get in at half-time, have a word and try to change things.
"In the second half, I thought we were a bit more like it. We had the three best chances in the second half and we might have got something from the game.
"We didn't play well in the first half - that was possibly the worst half-an-hour we have had - but we have been playing well lately."
By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.
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