Late start changes nothing - Mowbray

Tony Mowbray is refusing to let television scheduling affect his Middlesbrough team's preparations for Saturday evening's home clash with Southampton.

Boro take on the Saints at 5.20pm, and with play-off rivals Cardiff and Blackpool taking on Leeds and Burnley respectively early in the day, the game could be a dead rubber for Mowbray's men. He said: "It won't affect how we prepare for the game. Television are the paymasters. Whether it's right or wrong, I think the last day's the only day they all kick off at the same time. "If Sky pay football clubs a lot of money and dictate when they're going to play the games then so be it. Let's hope we've got something to play for at 5.20. "We'll prepare as if we have to go and win the football match, if not to keep our play-off hopes alive then to let the Boro fans in the stadium see they've got a team trying to win every game. "It's out of our hands if other teams win their matches. We've only got ourselves to blame, we were in a great position going into the new year and we haven't won enough football matches. We're a competitive team, a hard-working team, an honest team, full of character, but at times we lack the creativity and individuality to score enough goals to win games."