The draw left the Teessiders sitting 13th in the table, eight points adrift of the top-six berth they set as their target at the start of the campaign, and Southgate believes it summed up their season as a whole.

“I’m still in shock really,” said the 35-year-old. “I actually thought we played quite well, but at the end of the day, we have only got a point to show for it, and that’s disappointing.

“I thought (Aiyegbeni) Yakubu and Mark Viduka did a great job up front and were a real handful all game, but we keep conceding and that’s costing us dearly.

“It was such a strange game. The gaffer said we defended pretty well, but individual mistakes are costing us. It’s one person one week and a different one the next.

“We are very confident of scoring goals against anyone home or away, but we shouldn’t be scoring three at home and only getting a point – that’s criminal.

“It basically sums up why our league position is so disappointing.”

Boro, however, cannot afford to dwell on defeat with Wednesday night bringing the next phase of their bid for cup glory.

Having already secured a last-32 clash with German side VfB Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup, they face Blackburn in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, the competition which brought them a first major trophy last year.

“That’s the great thing about this club and the players we have got here,” Southgate told the club’s official website, www.mfc.co.uk. “Wednesday night is a huge game for this football club.

“We need this victory and if we can get into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, there’s no reason why we can’t go all the way again.

“We are playing our league matches like cup ties at the moment, so we should have no worries there,” he added with a smile. “I just hope we get a good crowd in because it really helps the lads when everyone gets behind us.”

That, however, may be wishful thinking with only 9,436 turning up for last Thursday night’s 2-0 European victory over Litex Lovech and a crowd of 27,614 - almost 7,000 below capacity – watching yesterday’s game.

Club officials are not anticipating a large attendance for the third of four games inside 11 days at the Riverside Stadium, although the fact this one is not being shown live on television may be a help.

Meanwhile, teenage midfielder James Morrison will be assessed over the next couple of days after he was carried unconscious from the pitch on a stretcher yesterday following an accidental clash with Robbie Keane.

Morrison suffered concussion and was left with a sore head and a black eye, and although there appears to be no lasting damage, he will undergo further tests before a decision is taken on his availability.