History does not linger over losing quarter-finalists, but nobody at Middlesbrough will readily banish the bitter memory of their departure from the FA Cup on Sunday. As they attempt to lift themselves for the realities of a relegation skirmish, beginning tonight away to Aston Villa, their supine defeat by Cardiff City - and the loss of a rare opportunity to claim silverware - is proving difficult to shake off.

“You feel that your guts have been ripped from inside you when you go home after a game like that,” Gareth Southgate said yesterday. “Losing on your own turf is the worst possible feeling - like somebody's been in your house and taken all your possessions. It will take time to heal that from the fans' point of view and whatever happens between now and the end of the season might not be enough.”

From Southgate, honesty and eloquence are commonplace, but passion and emotion flowed from the Middlesbrough manager as he dwelled on the weekend's events and their meaning for the club; trust is hard won and easily forfeited. “All we can do is go out on to the pitch and perform,” he said. “If the supporters decide to turn their back, that's their prerogative.”

None of Middlesbrough's senior players performed to their ability against Cardiff, but while Southgate refused to identify scapegoats - “they dug in for me earlier in the season when people were looking for me to be out of this job and I won't forget that,” he said - he intimated that the latter two months of a testing campaign will be studied carefully. Futures are being played for.

“Experiences like Sunday tell you a lot about your players,” he said. “People like Martin O'Neill will have been through similar experiences like that, but fans don't want to hear that. At the moment they've got me and we have to make the best of it. I'll give every second of every day to make sure it happens. We have ten games to go and we'll learn a lot about the people that we want to stay here to take us forward.”

Southgate retains the unstinting backing of Steve Gibson, the chairman. “The chairman spoke to me after the game and he was very angry, but also very supportive,” he said. “He was less than impressed with what had happened, but he's fantastic to work for because he gives you his full support and his full backing.” Sunday was not an illustration of it, but progress is being made at every level of the club. In the past few weeks, four influential players have signed extended or enhanced contracts, with Julio Arca following Stewart Downing, David Wheater and Andrew Taylor in committing themselves to Teesside.

Advances at Villa Park are more tangible, but O'Neill has taken the unusual step of labelling tonight's fixture a must-win game, with the manager emphasising that qualifying for Europe would be crucial for accelerating the development of England stars in the making such as Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Winning this game in hand would enable Villa to reduce to five points the lead held by Liverpool and Everton in the contest for top-five places.

With the winners of the FA Cup now certain to come from outside the Barclays Premier League's “big four” - and with Tottenham Hotspur having won the Carling Cup - the only Uefa Cup place available through the league goes to the side finishing fifth. “We're not out if it,” O'Neill said. “I know that Everton and Liverpool have built a considerable lead, which means there's less room for error than ever before. This is our game in hand and we've not only got to try and win it, we have got to win it.”

Teams

Aston Villa (possible; 4-4-2): S Carson - O Mellberg, Z Knight, M Laursen, W Bouma - S Maloney, N Reo-Coker, G Barry, A Young - G Agbonlahor, J Carew.

Middlesbrough (possible; 4-4-2): M Schwarzer - L Young, D Wheater, R Huth, E Pogatetz - G O'Neil, G Boateng, J Arca, S Downing - Tuncay Sanli, J Aliadière.

Referee: S Bennett.