Southgate has been in charge at Middlesbrough since 2006

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has played down talk of his side running away with promotion from the Championship this season.

Boro lie third behind Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion, but Southgate feels teams like Sheffield United and Cardiff can still have a say.

"There's eight to 10 teams who still feel they have a chance of automatic promotion," he told BBC Tees.

"And there are more than that who are wanting to push for the play-offs."

Meanwhile Southgate says he has been impressed by his side's strength in depth, with some key names forced to spend time on the bench.

You want to be fair and give people an opportunity Gareth Southgate

The former England international admits such selection headaches are a welcome bonus.

"It's what you want, but the hardest thing for me is to pick a team," he said.

"I said to the team on Saturday before the game, the hardest thing was to pick a team, not because I didn't want to play any of them but because I want to play all of them.

"It's a good situation to be in as a manager but it can still cause you some headaches because you want to be fair and give people an opportunity, but more than anything you want to pick a team to win."

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