Cattermole wants central role for keeps

Lee Cattermole is determined to hang on to his place in the Middlesbrough engine room after finally returning to his favoured role.

The 19-year-old midfielder, who emerged from the club’s Academy under former boss Steve McClaren, played much of his football last season wide on the right as Julio Arca and George Boateng lined up in the middle.

However, with Gary O’Neil having been drafted in on the right and Arca recovering from a knee ligament injury, the Stockton-born player was preferred to skipper Boateng for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham.

That was a challenge he relished, and now he is desperate to retain his place for Sunday’s trip to Bolton and beyond.

Cattermole said: “I have been waiting a while, probably since the first year I played, to get back into central midfield.

“It’s good for me, but I need to get a good run of games now and get my fitness levels up.

“Hopefully, I am here to stay now.”

The 1-1 draw with Spurs at the Riverside Stadium ended a run of five successive defeats for Boro, the first of them their Carling Cup exit at White Hart Lane on September 26.

They have not won in the league since Birmingham visited Teesside on September 1, a run of seven games which has yielded only two points and left them precariously placed just above the drop zone in 16th position.

However, Cattermole is convinced the character they showed to fightback and earn a point after Juande Ramos’ men had taken the lead through Darren Bent’s strike will be invaluable in the weeks and months ahead.

He said: “We wanted the three points, we needed three points, but we stopped the rot and hopefully we will now kick-on and go to Bolton with a bit of spirit with the character we showed to come back from a goal down.

“We were not playing against a side in the bottom three, we were playing against a European side.

“They are a top team. I don’t know how much their squad cost – over £100million, compared to ours, which probably only cost £20m.

“It was good to get a result.”

The point came courtesy of right-back Luke Young’s stinging long-range drive, just the third goal Boro had scored in six games.

Striker Mido, who announced his arrival from Tottenham with goals in his first two games against Fulham and Newcastle, is again expected to miss out with a troublesome groin injury.

However, England defender Jonathan Woodgate should shake off a hamstring problem, while Emanuel Pogatetz has declared himself fit after getting 90 minutes under his belt for the reserves in midweek following a double bout of knee surgery.