Boro earned the right to face the Red Devils after recovering from a dreadful opening 45 minutes against Albion with Mark Viduka cancelling out Darren Carter's opener with his ninth goal of 2007.

George Boateng stroked home the decisive spot-kick after the shoot-out went to sudden death before Sherjill MacDonald's miss for the Baggies ended their hopes of pulling off a giant-killing act as Boro triumphed 5-4.

Southgate said: "The Manchester United game is brilliant for us and I am chuffed for the fans. The club has been under the spotlight as the season has gone on and we have turned a big corner in a lot of ways.

"The fans have had to ride some shaky moments earlier in the season but, having given the large continent at West Brom an occasion to remember, a quarter-final at home against the best side in the country is fantastic to look forward to.

"It is a great tie for our club. We put the fans who came to West Brom through the mill but they have gone home happy with a game in the next round to really relish."

Southgate played in the last final at Wembley as an Aston Villa player in 2000 but is refusing to contemplate leading out a side in the first final at the new stadium in May.

He said: "Would I like to go back to Wembley as a manager? We've got the best team in the country to negotiate in the quarter-final and we will just look to that.

"We've earned that tie and will be giving it everything we've got."

Boro are certainly making progress the hard way after requiring a replay to go through for the third successive round.

Southgate said: "At half-time, with the way we were playing, it looked like we were going to go out with a bit of a damp squib and credit to the lads.

"They rallied themselves. They produced a performance that showed more about what we are about as a club and as a team and more of the character we have shown over the last 13 games.

I am very proud of what they did in that second period and in extra-time. Then with the penalties, we have shown tremendous nerve and courage to take them in front of their fans and to win the game."

Mowbray will look to try and pick up his players after a sapping 120 minutes for Saturday's vital home Coca-Cola Championship clash with Sunderland.

He said: "I would say the happiest man is Roy Keane who was sitting there in the stands and watching the game. We talked about how big a week it was with the games coming up and how important Saturday is to us.

"We go into extra time and penalties. We have a man sent off (Nathan Ellington) and we play with 10 men for nearly half an hour. It was a poor scenario for us but we've got to take the positives out of it.

"I was delighted again with the application of the team. That's what we have been saying for a good few months now but let's see how we go on Saturday now in the aftermath of that game.

"We've got to go and ask the players to dig deep again on Saturday against another decent side."