Middlesbrough and England winger Stewart Downing is still confident that his hometown club can beat the drop.

 

The Teessiders currently lie third from bottom, three points from safety but with five games to go and at least three other clubs still firmly in the dogfight, their local boy turned international remains optimistic. "It's still wide open," he said, “"Hull have been beaten again, Newcastle have lost, as have Blackburn, and we've picked up a point. Yes, three points against Fulham would have been better, but we're making ground.”

With a trip to the Emirates to look forward to, some people still doubt Boro’s ability to survive and with matches against Manchester United and local and relegation rivals Newcastle to come, it will be anything but easy. But Downing knows that there are not too many team’s outside the ‘big four’ with as good record against the ‘big four’ as the Riverside club. Victories against Manchester United and Arsenal have been recorded in recent years and with the other involved clubs having equally difficult fixtures either against high-fliers or relegation rivals, Boro may take it down to the wire.