IF the worst comes to the worst and Wanderers do go down, it won't be for the want of team spirit! Take it from one who knows.

A year ago, Neil Cox stuck his neck out and criticised the commitment of the high-priced foreign stars who failed to save Middlesbrough from the drop.

Today he's equally adamant that if 'all for one and one for all' is what it takes, Wanderers should stay up.

"All the lads here know we are struggling but we are all in it together, all fighting for one another," Cox insisted as he aimed to avoid a second successive relegation.

"The team spirit here is really strong. We haven't had a settled side all season and that's been a problem but we're all working for one another.

"At Middlesbrough it was hard because one or two of the foreigners didn't want to socialise and we were always struggling to get the team spirit going. Here we try and work on different things to keep everybody together.

"There's only been one game when we weren't really together and that was at Derby when we all seemed to just look after ourselves and obviously struggled.

"But at Middlesbrough it was different. You could go back to round about Christmas when we were starting to struggle and some of them were even saying then 'If we go down, I'm leaving!'

"You could see they were just looking after themselves. They were saying all the wrong things in the Press - people like Ravanelli and Emerson - there was something wrong.

"But it's not the same here. We're all trying to stick together, so whatever happens, after the Chelsea game we know we'll all be in it together." While Wanderers desperately cling to their Premiership lifeline, Cox is tipping Aston Villa to make it big next season.

But he knows his old mates won't be expecting an easy ride in tomorrow's muck or nettles showdown at Villa Park.

"Villa are on a good run and they are going for a place in Europe," says the defender who won England U-21 honours during a four-season spell with the Midlands club before a £1 million move to Middlesbrough.

"I know it's a massive club. I won a Coca-Cola Cup winners medal and we finished second in the League the first year Manchester United were Champions If they can just get it right I think they could be fighting for the Championship again. But that's for the future.

"We are fighting for survival tomorrow and I know they won't be relishing playing us. I know they beat us here 1-0 but I remember we created more chances that day and could have won it.

"If we can take our chances tomorrow, we can get the first of the three wins we need.

"It's going to be down to the two danger men. They are going to be looking out for Nathan Blake and we'll have to look out for Dwight Yorke.

"Blakey's looked sharp all season but he's had no luck in front of goal. He's just got to get in there and maybe, with a bit of luck, he can end the season with a few more goals.

"Yorkie's a great striker, one of the best in the country and we'll have to look out for him. I rate Ugo Ehiogu too and I'm surprised he's not been involved with the England squad lately.

"We came through together at Villa and I reckon he could be England captain one day."

Cox has made a belated impression on the Premiership after missing four months of the season with the hamstring injury he suffered in only the second game following his £1.5 million move. He has proved to be perfectly suited to the wing-back role he has filled since Wanderers switched to a three centre-back system.

"I like getting forward, even when I'm playing in the back four," he says. "But playing in a five and pushing on gets me forward even more.

"I struggled for the first few games when I came back because I'd missed so many games, but now I'm feeling a lot sharper and fitter."

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