Boro's drab goalless draw with Wigan left them languishing second from bottom of the table and facing the daunting visit of title-chasing Liverpool to the Riverside Stadium next week.

Apart from a low first-half effort from Stewart Downing and a late drive from Gary O'Neil Southgate's men showed little attacking flair and with pressure mounting he admitted it was time to throw caution to the wind.

Southgate said: "We showed a little bit of fear and we've got to be a little bit braver. We've got enough attacking talent on the field to pose questions and although we gave everything we didn't have enough.

"We've got to work with these players and encourage them and get the best we possibly can out of them. It's not that they don't want to do it - they know what they want to do but it's not happening for them.

"Every one of the players and staff is up for the fight. We know it's going to be extremely tough and everybody outside our club thinks we are gone but there's a lot of football to be played and points to go for."

But Southgate must fear the worst after another grim display which brought smatterings of resigned boos from the home crowd and which also saw the loss of Frenchman Didier Digard to injury.

Digard spent the night in hospital for tests on an injured thigh after a challenge by former Boro midfielder Lee Cattermole which incensed the home fans but which looked on television replays to be fair.

The incident at least raised the tempo of a shapeless game with Downing seeing a low shot tipped away by Chris Kirkland then coming close when he flashed an effort past the keeper's right-hand post.

Charles N'Zogbia saw a left-footed free-kick tipped clear by Boro keeper Brad Jones and the first half ended in controversy when both O'Neil and Afonso Alves were booked diving - each under the close attention of Cattermole.

Afterwards Wigan boss Steve Bruce sprang to Cattermole's defence, insisting: "With Lee being from here the crowd went up but it was a perfectly fair challenge and I've got to compliment the referee for handling it well.

"Lee's a tough-tackling midfield player but he never wants to go and hurt anybody. Today he tackled and got the ball and unfortunately the boy Digard has come off second best. These things happen in football."

As the second half ticked by the increasingly desperate Southgate introduced strikers Tuncay Sanli and Jeremie Aliadiere but to little effect as Boro faded and Wigan looked more likely to steal the points.

Michael Brown should have done better in front of goal from a cross by impressive substitute Hugo Rodallega, then Rodallega latched on to a long ball from Mario Melchiot but lobbed over the bar.

Despite O'Neil's late drive into the arms of Kirkland Wigan were full value for the point which keeps them riding high in seventh - and in Rodallega Bruce believes he has the answer to his recent high-profile departures.

The 23-year-old Colombian joined Wigan from Mexican club Necaxa in December and Bruce said: "I'm really pleased with him - he showed he's going to be a really big asset for us given a bit of time.

"It's going to be hard to rebuild after what happened in January but we're delighted with what we've done. I've seen flashes from the players and they can only get better.

"We had nine transfers in January, half a team near enough, and we've gone back to basics and made ourselves difficult to beat. If we get our cutting edge back I think we're going to be okay."