Chelsea coach Scolari appeared to wave an imaginary card at referee Lee Probert after Mohamed Shawky, who had already been booked, was penalised for handball.

Scolari's gesture incensed Middlesbrough's assistant coach Malcolm Crosby and the pair exchanged words just before half-time.

Southgate also revealed that Scolari had refused to shake hands at the end of the game which Chelsea won 2-0 thanks to a brace of goals from Salomon Kalou.

The win lifted Chelsea into second place in the table and kept Middlesbrough entrenched in the bottom three.

"There were words between my assistant and Phil Scolari," said Southgate. "He seemed to want to get one of my players booked. He didn't shake hands at the end. A strange reaction, but that's his prerogative."

Middlesbrough tried hard to stifle Chelsea but two moments of poor defending cost them dearly.

Both Chelsea's goals came from corners and Southgate added: "We realised we had to keep things tight. You can't open up against a team like Chelsea.

"You expect a moment of real class, to be carved open a few times, but that didn't really happen. Our discipline was really good.

"A bit of quality from a set-piece from us might have been our best manner of scoring, so it's a big let-down to lose to two set-pieces given the quality we were up against.

"That's unforgivable because it comes down to people not doing their jobs at the end of the day.

"We're not where we'd like to be. We've had a tough run. But I don't think anyone in the country expected us to get anything tonight.

"We should have had a bonus point. But we know what we have to do. We have stability. We have players who can get us out of the situation we're in. We have to tighten up on the things that went wrong tonight."

Chelsea's assistant coach Ray Wilkins insisted there was no problem with the Middlesbrough bench over Scolari's action.

Wilkins confirmed that he did shake hands with Southgate but went on to say: "It's a very emotional game, isn't it? Passions run high.

"They ran high on their bench. They did on ours. That's the way the game is played.

"It's played with great passion on the pitch and off it, whether it is with supporters or managers. I shook hands. It was a nothing conversation.

"I didn't even see the incident, to be honest. If the referee felt he (Scolari) needed to be sent to the stands, he would have done that.

"But he didn't do that. The referee obviously felt quite comfortable with the situation, and Steve Bennett (fourth official) was on the side and he obviously felt okay with the situation."

Chelsea's victory makes Sunday's visit to third-placed Liverpool a massive game for the Blues but Wilkins does not believe the Reds are beginning to implode after their 1-1 draw with Wigan.

"It is a massive game on Sunday," agreed Wilkins. "Over the past couple of years, we've had some fantastic games with them.

"I'm sure this will be the same. I've got no to make on whether Liverpool are cracking up. They won't be.

"They've got top class footballers. We just worry about ourselves. We go there with a very positive attitude, as we do every match."