#OnThisBoroDay 2004: Gareth Southgate issues rallying call ahead of the Carling Cup final

The countdown to Cardiff was well and truly on.

In just a matter of days Teesside would make the pilgrimage to the Millennium Stadium and it was over to the players to make sure they made the return journey with silverware.

Captain fantastic Gareth Southgate agreed.

For too long the inspirational skipper had walked into the Riverside Stadium to be greeted by an empty honours board.

It was time to blow away a century of mediocrity and begin to compete with the big boys.

The perfect way to do that was for Boro to get their hands on a domestic cup.

“The expectations (at Boro) aren’t as high as when you go to places like Old Trafford or Highbury but to get to that level of expectation we have to start winning trophies,” said Southgate on this day in 2004.

“It’s a big game for the club but we have experienced players who are used to playing in big games.

“We have players who have played in World Cups and European finals and that big match experience can only help us.”

Southgate spoke of the importance of not letting the unthinkable - defeat - derail Boro’s season.

The fans who were preparing for the trip for the trip to South Wales weren’t even considering the possibility of Boro not getting the better of Bolton on the big stage.

This was the chance to right the wrongs of previous final appearances - to put the ghosts of that painful Leicester defeat to bed.

And fans’ favourite French Franck made no secret of how the cup final would rank in the list of his own personal career highlights.

“I came off the bench to play for the French B team but this is my biggest game so far,” he told the Gazette.

“I came to Middlesbrough to play in big games and this is the first one.

“I hope that I can do very well and that it is not the last one. Who knows what can happen if I do well?”

The players were saying what the fans wanted to hear but there would soon come a time when the talking would have to stop.

That’s when Boro’s heroes stepped up to be counted and the group of players engraved themselves in the history books.