Having made the 600-mile round trip to the Riverside Stadium on a grim, windswept March afternoon, it is probably a fair assumption that every one of those 685 travelling Portsmouth supporters who journeyed to the North East will still be around next season should they need to make similarly unappealing treks to Swansea, Doncaster and, heaven forbid, perhaps even Tranmere.

Last season’s FA Cup winners — the club who almost humbled AC Milan last November — are locked in a grim battle at the wrong end of the Barclays Premier League, but perhaps it required Marlon King’s stoppage-time equaliser for Middlesbrough to ram home that harsh truth to Paul Hart’s side.

Considering that Hart is Portsmouth’s third manager this season, relegation fears should be no surprise to the group of international players left behind by Harry Redknapp.

But had goalkeeper David James not smothered a goalbound shot by Afonso Alves in the fourth minute of time added on, the visiting team would have found themselves one place off the bottom and with games running out. It is to be hoped the penny has finally dropped.

“I have been in a situation with West Ham which was dire at Christmas and we nearly got out of it, but this is a very different task,” James said. “We are trying to avoid dropping into the bottom three rather than trying to get out of it.

“Psychologically, that might be easier or it could make us complacent, but we have six games against clubs in the bottom half and four of those against teams around us, so it will be interesting.

“We are in a decent position with regard to not being in the bottom three. We have a game in hand, albeit at Manchester United — but we all know now that they can get beaten at home. We are still in a position to get out of the mire.”

Peter Crouch’s volleyed opener on 29 minutes, after David Nugent had struck a post, was just reward for their dominant start, but they failed to capitalise and the door was left ajar for the home side to creep back into the match.

Still, with the likes of King, Stewart Downing and Tunçay Sanli displaying anything but a killer instinct in front of goal, Portsmouth looked set to ride the storm and emerge with the three points, especially once Matthew Bates, the Middlesbrough midfield player, was sent off for a second booking, for diving, after 75 minutes.

Strangely, Bates’s dismissal sparked a change in his team’s fortunes. Supporters that had booed their team off at the interval and chanted disparagingly that “We’ve only got one player” — generally assumed to be Tunçay — suddenly threw their backing behind Gareth Southgate’s players, who shook off their earlier lethargy and mounted a late surge.

When James parried Tony McMahon’s header from a corner by Downing, King was on hand to volley home his first goal since arriving on loan from Wigan Athletic in January. It was a life-saver for Middlesbrough, but it could have been much better had Afonso taken his chance seconds later after being played through by Adam Johnson, who impressed after coming on as substitute.

Middlesbrough, who travel to Stoke City on Saturday for another huge fixture, remain in touch with their rivals. Just. Robert Huth, the centre back, said: “I always think it is never over until it is over, but with ten minutes to go, it looked bad for us. It is a terrible feeling to be down to ten men and one down.

“If we had lost, it would have been a hell of a job with just nine games to go. Everyone knows how dire relegation would be and the effect it would have on the club and the town. It would be huge, both financially and emotionally.”

Middlesbrough (4-4-1-1): B Jones 5 - A McMahon 5, D Wheater 6, R Huth 5, E Pogatetz 6 - J Aliadière 5, M Bates X, J Arca 5, S Downing 6, Tunçay Sanli 8. M King 5. Substitutes: A Taylor 7 (for Pogatetz, 46min), A Johnson 7 (for Aliadière, 59), Afonso Alves (for Arca, 71). Not used: R Turnbull, M Emnes, M Shawky, J Walker. Next game: Stoke (a).

Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): D James 7 - G Johnson 8, S Campbell 7, S Distin 7, H Hreidarsson 6 - H Mullins 7, S Davis 6 - J Pennant 6, N Kranjcar 6, D Nugent 6 - P Crouch 7. Substitutes: N Belhadj 6 (for Pennant, 36min), R Hughes (for Nugent, 71), N Pamarot (for Kranjcar, 90). Not used: A Begovic, Y Kaboul, J Utaka, M Kanu. Next: Everton (h)

Referee: M Atkinson Attendance: 24,281