Boro's back-to-basics battle at Brentford was more important than the giant-killing glamour of Manchester City.
That’s the verdict of Ben Gibson after Aitor Karanka’s side ground out a “lucky” 1-0 win at their promotion rivals.
“Brentford was much more important than Man City,” said the young defender.
“Games like Brentford are the real bread and butter. They are ones that really matter.
“Don’t get me wrong, going to the Etihad Stadium was a lovely day out for us as a club and the fans and it was a great win worth celebrating - but Brentford was the crucial game.
“We all know that we have to win our league games and we have to get out of this division.
“Plus, it was a real six-pointer. They were right behind us.
"It was a vital win because we’ve added three more points and we’ve pegged them back.”
But the win was far from pretty.
Boro were under pressure for long spells and Brentford rattled the post and spurned good chances before a quick raid ahead of the break earned a penalty that skipper Grant Leadbitter slotted away, his eighth from the spot this term.
And relieved Gibson admitted that Boro were fortunate to be ahead at that stage.
“We got off the hook massively with the penalty,” he confessed.
“We didn’t deserve to be a goal up at half-time and we were really lucky.
“But it’s important that you ride your luck a bit and stay in the game at times like that.
“They were good but we dug in and we defended well and we got something.
“It wasn’t a great game and we’re all disappointed with our performance but sometimes you just have to grind results out.
“There have been plenty of games like this that we haven’t won in the past in this division.”
And Gibson was quick to praise assertive Brentford for making it difficult for Boro.
“You can see why they are doing well,” he said.
“They don’t let you play your football, they hound you and stop you passing out from the back and slotting passes into midfield.
“More often than not, myself included, we had to turn them and go long which is not the way we want to play but sometimes you have no choice but to do that in this league.”
The win completed a successful January for Boro in which they won three and drew one of their league games as well as knocking Barnsley and the Premier League champions out of the FA Cup.
And in that run they have kept seven clean sheets in eight games - a run that Gibson insists is a collective effort.
“Those stats are testament to the work the whole team is putting in,” he said.
Manchester City's James Milner is tackled by Middlesbrough's Ben Gibson
“It’s not just the lads at the back.
"The boys up front work hard closing people down, the wingers track back and put tackles in and the centre-mids in front of us are excellent.
“Clean sheets and hard work are the platform in this division. If we can keep that up to the end of the season then we’re not going to be far away.”
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