Gestede: Boro must attack to survive

Rudy Gestede insists Middlesbrough will have to release the handbrake and go for broke if they are going to beat the drop this season.

Gestede climbed off the bench as Boro went with two up top in the second half of their defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

But before Antonio Valencia’s late strike added gloss to a 3-1 scoreline, Gestede had fired Boro back into the game as his partnership with Alvaro Negredo bore fruit.

And the former Aston Villa forward – signed for £6million in January – hopes that has given caretaker boss Steve Agnew food for thought.

“We want to stay up so we have to go for it and try to win games,” he said.

“We have to play in our way and in a way that can cause problems for the other team.

“So we went with two strikers and made sure we put the ball in the box. That is where you will score goals.

“We showed good character from the start to the end and we’re disappointed because maybe we deserved more from the game.

“If we play like that then we can win games. And only wins will keep us up.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“We have no choice now if we want to stay up: we have to wins games so we have to play in a way to ensure we score goals more than the other team.

“Even from the start I think there were a lot of positive things. We played good football and we created a few good chances. We showed we could play on the front foot.

“We have to do that in every game now then we can get some points and we will survive.”