Mowbray on how Curtis Main handled Cup derby

Feb 12 2012 by Matthew Leslie, Sunday Sun

"WE WILL find out if we will need to scrape him off the ceiling," says Tony Mowbray of Boro's teen sensation Curtis Main.

The youngster was thrown into the lion’s den earlier this week with his first start for Middlesbrough against Sunderland at the Riverside.

Boro lost an extra-time thriller to their rivals from Wearside, but Main – in front of a live nationwide TV audience – impressed all who were watching with a fine display which included an assist for Lukas Jutkewicz’s equaliser in the 2-1 loss.

The big question is how is Main handling all the attention.

Do Boro need to scrape him off the ceiling or is he just taking it all in his stride?

Mowbray said: “We will get to find that out later as he develops.

“Actually, Curtis was upset after the Sunderland game for various things.

“He probably miscontrolled the ball in the 22nd minute and may have be still moaning at himself about that.

“He is very hard on himself is Curtis – maybe too hard – and he needs to find a mechanism which re-focuses himself very, very quickly during the game as the next thing will happen very quickly.

“The missed chance or the miscontrol has gone, you have to get on with the next chance and stick it in the net.

“We will work with him on that. All the best strikers miss chances, so you just have to get on with the next one.

“He is a good lad who is determined to be a success and do well and we hope he will.

“I don’t think Curtis needs the ‘walk before you can run chat’ to be honest.

“I am trying to manage within the media not to talk too much about him and not to build him up to much but here I am talking about him.

“He is just a young boy who has a lot to learn, but he works hard at his game and listens attentively to what we what him to do.”

Middlesbrough face Nottingham Forest on Tuesday and then have a rarity for them this season – a seven-day interval between games with the Millwall game being pushed back to February 21, meaning Mowbray’s battle-weary players have a chance to rest up.