Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate admits it is now
a 'huge ask' of his team to stay in The Premier League but he
insisted the second-from-bottom side are not without their
hope.
Boro's 1-0 defeat at Stoke on Saturday left the Teesside club
four points adrift of safety going into the final eight games of
the season.
Defeat to Ryan Shawcross's header six minutes from time was
harsh on the visitors, according to Southgate, who was adamant that
his players could not be faulted for effort.
Southgate said on Setanta Sports News : "What we feel we rightly
deserved is irrelevant. We've defended extremely well for the
majority of the game.
"We've caused them problems with the way we've passed the ball
and had chances to win it. We haven't taken those chances and been
punished for the one set-piece we didn't defend - that's the harsh
realities of football.
"I've got a group of player who give everything they've got. We
know we're going to be criticised by our own fans and no-one more
so than me, but we've got to take that.
"We are where we are over 30 games because that's where we
deserve to be. We can't hide from that.
"We have eight games to save ourselves. It's possible but it's a
huge ask now. Today was a big blow to us but teams have got out of
this situation before and we've got to take hope from that."