Leading Boro beyond a dream for Gibson

Ben Gibson revealed captaining boyhood club Middlesbrough against title-chasing Chelsea in front of a sold-out crowd at the Riverside Stadium was beyond his wildest dreams.

Gibson joined the Middlesbrough set up aged 12 and has gone on to make 100 appearances for the first team.

And though the 23-year-old wore the armband in what proved to be a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in front of the TV cameras, the magnitude of the occasion was not lost on Gibson.

“It’s amazing. I’m delighted to do that,” said the defender.

“As a little boy you never feel like you’ll get to do something like that.

(Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

“But I’m disappointed with the result because I think we deserved a bit more.

“In the second half we controlled large parts of the game and limited their opportunities. With a better ball or finish at the end we could have equalised.

“To lose to a set-piece is frustrating.

“We were committed and fought until the end. You can’t ask much more from the lads, just a bit of concentration in the box which, in the end, proved to be key.”