TONY Mowbray leads his team into action against Coventry at the Riverside today with safety in the bag and his sights set on a far bigger target.

The Middlesbrough boss saw his side storm back from behind to finally secure their Championship status with a 4-2 win at Hull that mauled the Tigers’ play-off hopes. The Teessiders leaked a goal after just three minutes then survived a ten minute barrage before roaring into action as Aussie hitman Scott McDonald pounced twice in two minutes. Then Julio Arca was gifted a third and McDonald completed his hat-trick before the break.

And Mowbray believes that resilience under pressure and the ability to score goals can be key ingredients for getting the Teesside public on board for a push for the Premier League next term.

“There are three games to go we’ve got to try and win them all,” he said, insisting there was no chance of his side taking the foot off the gas now they were safe.

“We need to go into the summer with a bit of a buzz, a bit of positivity and we need to make the supporters want to follow Middlesbrough next year.

“For players out on pitch makes a massive difference to hear the fans singing and they have been fantastic for us all season. I like to think they can see the shoots of recovery in this team.

“But the people who travel to places like Burnley and Hull are going to come to games at home anyway. To the others, the people who maybe don’t come as regularly, I’d like to hope there is now something there that they want to come as see and something that makes them want to follow the team.

“We all share the same ambition which is to get this club back to the Premier League.”

Fans certainly get entertainment with Boro these days. The 4-2 win took the goal tally to a net-busting 54 goals in Boro’s last 14 games while Boro have come from behind five times in the last seven games to take points.

But while the supporters have lapped it up the boss admits at times it has given him palpitations.

“Of course we need to tighten up at the back,” he said. “ We can’t keep losing two or three goals every game and we can’t keep on giving away the first goal.

“But the reasons are there to see. We have rarely had the same players out there at the back. This week it was both full-backs missing. If we can get a regular back four out week in week out then maybe we can address that.”

Mowbray revealed bubbling Boro ripped the paper Tigers apart after some pre-match press that made his team-talk easy. “There were a few added incentives for us,” he explained. “We were sat in the hotel before the game reading the Hull Evening News and the local pundits were saying it was going to be a walk-over, that we were cannon fodder.”

Boro needed to show some steel after they went behind after three minutes when Fryatt nodded down a Koren cross for Jay Simpson to smash home.

In a torrid spell Boro were rocked as the home side surged forward but then Hull shot themselves squarely through the size nines. Twice. Boro were gifted a leveller on 10 minutes as Marvin Emnes collected a poor clearance and slotted a ball into the path of McDonald who raced forward to slot home.

Two minutes later it was two as speedy Emnes burst into the box onto a poor back-pass and stabbed a ball onto the keeper’s shins that bounced kindly for unmarked McDonald to sweep home a second. Then, on 26 minutes, Emnes against quickly raced into the box and a jittery defender poked a weak pass square for Julio Arca to rifle home.

And it was four in first half stoppage time as Barry Robson slotted a ball to the near post where McDonald skipped past a static defender and popped home to complete the first hat-trick by a Boro player since Afonso Alves in an 8-1 Premier League demolition of Manchester City in May 2008 and it took the Aussie’s season’s tally to 14 in all competitions.

After the break Hull bagged a consolation strike from Anthony Gerrard’s 25 yards free-kick.

HULL CITY: Mannone (Duke 46); Rosenior (Mclean 39), Hobbs, Gerrard, Dawson, Koren, Chester, Evans, Garcia (Cairney 58), Fryatt, Simpson. Subs (not used): Harper, Devitt, Amoo, Belaid.

Goals: Simpson 3, Gerrard 69.

MIDDLESBROUGH: Smith; Smallwood (Flood 71), Bates, McManus (Davies 65), Haas, Thomson, Robson, Arca, Taylor, McDonald (Lita 67), Emnes. Subs (not used): Steele, Hoyte, Kink, Grounds.

Booked: Haas.

Goals: McDonald 11, 13, Arca 26, McDonald 45.

Attendance: 21,937. Referee: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire).