Gareth hails a 'new' signing.

Gareth Southgate this week hailed 'new signing' Abel Xavier after the Portuguese star bounced back into Premiership football as if he had never been away.

Xavier was drafted into the Boro line-up at Aston Villa when Andrew Davies failed a fitness test.

The 33-year-old took his chance with both feet, so to speak, and the agony of his year-long drugs ban was buried over 90 industrious minutes at Villa Park.

Southgate said: "I said to Abel before the game that it had been a long time for him but that he was more than capable of doing the job.

"It was a big thing for him to get a start and have the chance to prove himself again.

"I thought he did ever so well considering the length of time he had been out of the game.

"He kept going all the way through the game and that was fantastic in itself.

"As I have said all along, he will prove to be a useful addition to our squad this season.

"It's like a new player coming in and it has increased the competition for places."

Davies, who has been one of Boro's most consistent performers this season and one of Southgate's major bonuses, faces a battle to regain his place when he recovers from his calf injury next month.

The same applies to Stuart Parnaby, who lost his place to Davies early in the season but is fit again after recovering from bruised toes.

Southgate operated with wing-backs at Villa Park - a position that Parnaby is well suited to - but Xavier coped admirably with the extra responsibilities on Saturday.

Southgate said: "I asked Abel to play as a wing back and he fulfilled that role ever so well.

"He got forward whenever he could and he made some strong tackles.

"To be honest I wouldn't have played him because of the way that Andrew Davies has been playing.

"But Andrew was injured and Abel took the opportunity when it came along."

Southgate may well drop the wing-backs formation for the home game against Manchester United.

But Xavier will still take some shifting from the team.

GARETH Southgate is hoping to take a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book by building a top class team - but hopes it doesn't take him four and a half years to achieve it.

He said: "I read an article recently by Sir Alex in which he said it took him 18 months to put his own team together.

"He said that it took him another 18 months to knock them into shape.

"Then it took a further 18 months for the team to take the club forward.

"Sir Alex has been at Man United for 20 years, so if I'm still here in five years maybe I'll have got everything in place and working right."

Southgate added: "I believe that we are heading in the right direction at Boro.

"The chairman and myself have the same ambition to bring success here.

"You have to believe that you are up for the fight and it's important that my players can see me walk in here every day with that belief."