With victory claimed and safety assured, the soul-searching began at Middlesbrough. Two years into a demanding role, Gareth Southgate has established himself as a thoughtful, honest and articulate manager, but he bade farewell to part of himself on Saturday. In future, players may find him just a little less accommodating.

Avoiding relegation was not marked with jubilation on Teesside and a summer of change beckons. “I’ll be going home pleased we got there, but I won’t be celebrating,” Southgate said. “I’ll be planning for what happens next.”

Thrust into a testing position, the 37-year-old has found his feet, which will now be used to kick a few backsides. Southgate played alongside more than half of the side that eased past Portsmouth and the transition has caused discomfort. George Boateng, for instance, took it personally when he was dropped this season, because he and Southgate had so recently been teammates.

“Everybody has questioned me because I’m a young manager,” Southgate said. “If senior managers make decisions they’re just accepted without question. Now, I have an open-door policy, but I might have to review that.

“I have a group of players I love working with, but they have to realise we’re fourteenth in the league, so perhaps we’re not as good as we think. This is the time to say, ‘I’m no longer Gareth Southgate the footballer.’ It’s been hard; you play with people and then you manage them and the relationship changes. This is a good cut-off point to say, ‘That’s it.’ ” It has been a sharp learning curve. Southgate has had to cut wages and ages, study for his coaching badges, cope with the loss of Mark Viduka and Yakubu Ayegbeni and has adopted a more cavalier playing style. He has spent much of his time “compromising my principles”, but next season will herald “my team and a club running the way I believe it should.”

That Chris Riggott, Southgate’s erstwhile partner at centre half and a player he has used sparingly, should propel them towards security was ironic. “I don’t think I handled Chris’s situation well,” Southgate, who had recalled Riggott from a loan spell at Stoke City, said. “I left him out of the side when he had played extremely well. There are times when I have played people on reputation.”

Riggott’s headed goal came from a corner, as did Tuncay Sanli’s in the 53rd minute. With Wembley on their horizon, Portsmouth were distracted and they have lost three matches in a row. “I’ll be back on the training ground this week,” Harry Redknapp said. “I need to shake a few people up, get amongst them and get them closing down, get a bit of sharpness back.”

Middlesbrough (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 6 – L Young 6, C Riggott 8, D Wheater 7, E Pogatetz 6 – G Boateng 7 (sub: L Cattermole, 87min), F Rochemback 6, J Arca 6, S Downing 6 – Tuncay Sanli 7, Afonso Alves 5 (sub: J Aliadière, 61 5). Substitutes not used: R Turnbull, A Johnson, A Taylor. Booked: Arca. Next: Manchester City (h).

Portsmouth (4-4-2): J Ashdown 6 – G Johnson 6, S Campbell 7, S Distin 5, H Hreidarsson 6 – A Mvuemba 6, L Diarra 6, P Bouba Diop 5 (sub: S Davis, 67 5), N Kranjcar 7 – J Defoe 6, M Baros 5 (sub: D Nugent, 67 5). Substitutes not used: A Begovic, Lauren, R Hughes. Booked: Diarra. Next: Fulham (h).

Referee: P Walton
Attendance: 24,828