Michael Mancienne believes the win over Boro on Saturday shows that Nottingham Forest should be one of the sides challenging for automatic promotion in the Championship.
Forest started the season in impressive fashion before suffering a shocking run of form that saw them drop away from the promotion pack and ultimately led to Stuart Pearce losing his job as boss.
They’ve lost just once since Dougie Freedman took charge, bouncing back from a defeat at Charlton by beating Boro 2-1 at the City Ground.
Grant Leadbitter’s fortuitous early goal put Boro in the perfect position to pick up the points but Karanka’s side leaked two avoidable goals.
And although Boro dominated possession for long periods, Mancienne said Forest were happy to let their opponents have the ball.
“Everyone put a shift in, everyone worked hard for each other,” said the former England Under-21 international.
“There were periods of the game where they had a lot of the ball, but we kept our shape, we stayed positive and we got the win.
“If the opposition have possession, it is not a problem as long as we have men behind the ball the ball, because we are comfortable in that situation.
“We feel we can handle sides in that position and we came out victories again here.
“I thought we started well, when they scored I was a little surprised because I did not feel as though the goal was coming.
“The boys did really well to stay calm and get the goal that got us back into it just before half-time.”
He added: “We beat a really good team here and really showed our quality.
“It was a massive win for us and I am really happy to have been a part of it and to have played in it. I think we deserved it because we worked very hard to get the win.”
The defeat left Boro tied in a four-way grapple for top spot while Forest kept their slim play-off hopes alive.
But despite a nine-point gap to bridge, Mancienne is refusing to rule out a late charge into the top six.
“This result is a boost for us, because it shows our quality and where we should be,” he told the Nottingham Post.
“We should not be where we are in the league at the minute, we should definitely be fighting for promotion with the squad we have got.
“It is frustrating that we had the slump we had, in the middle of the season.
“We always knew we had a great squad here and a great team. We had the little rough patch which is frustrating for us, because we know we could be so much further up the league.”
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