Jérémie Aliadière

Jérémie Aliadière believes a win at home against Fulham on Saturday would all but banish Middlesbrough's relegation fears. Gareth Southgate's side sit five points clear of the bottom three after Sunday's draw at Newcastle and Aliadière described the visit of struggling Fulham as "massive".

"If we win it, and we have to, a bit of a gap will develop between us and the bottom three. If we get three points we are almost there," said the striker, who is beginning to blossom on Teesside after his £2m move from Arsenal last summer.

"We were in a difficult position a few weeks ago," he continued, "and a few people were saying we were destined to go down, but we have proved those people wrong. We have been fighting for each other and there is a real team spirit at the club. We are determined to stay up for the manager and the fans. We have worked hard for each other as a team and slowly, bit by bit, we have started to climb the table. We haven't lost since January 1 [at home to Everton]."

Southgate is slowly confounding the doubters while implementing an attractive brand of passing football. "We're a good team that can play a bit of football," said Aliadière, whose tally of two Premier League goals this term does not reflect some impressive performances full of pace, movement and creativity. "But it's fair to say that we've played well this season without scoring goals. The defence and midfield have been fantastic lately but we've still struggled to score."