Southgate: It took guts

Gareth Southgate hailed Middlesbrough's gutsy Uefa Cup heroes on Wednesday.

Gareth Southgate spoke of his joy after helping to see Middlesbrough through to the Uefa Cup quarter finals.

The Boro defender found himself under constant bombardment from the Roma attack, but his brave performance inspired his team-mates to cling on for a 2-1 defeat on the night but an away-goals victory after a 2-2 draw over the two legs.

"It's fantastic," he told ITV4. "It has to be the best night in the club's history. To come here, we knew they were a good side and they showed it.

"We knew we needed an away goal and [Mark] Schwarzer made some good saves to keep us in it."

Boro were under constant pressure, and Southgate was delighted with the manner in which they dug in and kept the Giallorossi forwards at bay in the closing stages.

"We took all our strikers off and didn't seem to get out of our half. But we managed to soak it up. Credit to everybody. It took guts and we had something to hang onto."