A trip to Middlesbrough for the funeral of a good friend last Friday provided an opportunity to gauge what a group of Boro fans felt about our prospects of staying up.

As with most of the pundits I’ve read recently, almost to a man they held out little hope for our prospects of beating the drop.

Phrases like “you’re in freefall” and “club in turmoil” were trotted out and I must admit the already sad occasion was made worse by such downbeat opinions from unbiased supporters who have, of course, themselves suffered the pain of relegation recently.

Well they may have to revise their predictions after our outstanding battling performance at the Emirates.

The point gained against the odds is important in itself in keeping our heads just above the choppy waters of the bottom three.

Of even greater greater value should be the confidence and belief that the team will hopefully take from a brave and committed showing.

To play the last 20 minutes against a full strength Arsenal desperate to keep up the pressure on Manchester United reduced to 10 men and hold out was commendable.

I thought that I’d be writing for the third week on the trot about a harsh refereeing decision costing us but thankfully we still managed the point and even with 11 on the park I doubt we’d have knicked a win.

Other results could have been kinder mind you but it underlines the fact that we can’t rely on others to save us. We will have to do that ourselves starting with a victory over relegation rivals Birmingham next Saturday.

I generally try to avoid the phrase “must win game” which like certain other football related terms like “world class” is trotted out far too liberally.

However I have no hesitation in calling our next match a must win.

The hard won point and plaudits gained against Arsenal will count for nothing if we fail to get a victory over Birmingham. Nothing less will do. Three points will give us a little breathing space and just as important, continue a modest but definite form revival.