Southgate looks to Mido return

A BOXING day bashing at Birmingham has set the alarm bells ringing at Middlesbrough again.
A Stewart Downing own goal, a Mikael Forssell strike and Gary McSheffrey's late penalty condemned Boro to defeat.
They are now just three points clear of the relegation zone and manager Gareth Southgate has admitted his side are missing their injured Egyptian striker Mido who has been sidelined since October.Southgate would love to have him back in the side as soon as possible but has admitted he cannot set a date for his return.
"He has been out with a stress injury and it is difficult to put a time on his return," said Southgate.
"He is back in training but it is not a ligament injury where you can put a definite time span on it."It is a case of building up in training. We have to make sure that we are doing it at the right level."I cannot see him playing a part in the Christmas period. He is desperately keen to do so but just because we have had a couple of bad results we cannot alter our thinking on what is right for him and us."It is an injury he has had on and off and it flared up again soon after he joined us."This means we have lost three strikers this year and highlights the shortage of experience in that area.

"We are in a position in the table we do not want to be in. But we are realistic of what can be achieved."It is only hard work and endeavour, and better quality than we showed against Birmingham, that will get us through this difficult period.

"And Southgate admitted the Blues had been well worth their win."We didn't deserve anything from the game," he said. "I thought we were very, very poor in the first half and didn't get out of the traps."I've heard people use the phase 'we have turned the corner.

' I knew we hadn't and the evidence is there for everyone to see. There is a tremendous amount of hard work to be done."I think we let ourselves down because 3-0 is a very poor result. Now we have to roll up our sleeves up and work together to get ourselves back on track. We have to go to Portsmouth and do that."