The table after Monday night's 2-1 home defeat by Arsenal made for hard reading on Teesside with Boro lying in 19th place, six points adrift of Hull in 17th with six games remaining and without a league win since December 17. "We have to win probably all our games to get into that".
"And that run starts with this win over Middlesbrough. We've trained hard, we've trained well - there has been a few more kicks in training [laughs]".
"We can do that, but also we will have to - had we not won against Middlesbrough I would have conceded that the top four was beyond us".
The report claims the defender will replace Nacho Monreal as the club's first choice left-back and will sign a four-year contract.
"Mathematically it is still possible even if it is hard, but we have to give it a go".
"It was a committed game that we needed to win".
"It wasn't flawless but I believe it's better to come back together with the triumph".
Not only were the two sides struggling to play decent football, some players could hardly stay on their feet.
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The Germany midfielder fired home a 71st-minute victor finally to kill off battling Boro, who had dragged themselves back into the game when Alvaro Negredo cancelled out Alexis Sanchez's first-half free-kick five minutes after the restart.
Wenger sensed uncharacteristic anxiety in his out-of-form players before the game, which he hopes will now have been overcome.
Things might have changed significantly had Boro enjoyed the stroke of good fortune against the Gunners which has eluded them for much of the campaign to date.
There was some irony over the fact that Arsenal's goal-scoring heroes were both players who have been linked with moves away from the Emirates this summer.
However, the visitors had to fight all the way in front of a crowd of 31,298 at the Riverside, with Boro making up for what they may lack in quality with a committed display, which for long periods looked like earning them tangible reward.
For Boro boss Steve Agnew, there was the pain of another defeat but pride in the way his relegation-threatened players performed. "We pushed them back, and you're just thinking the ball is going to bounce in the right area", he told reporters.
He said: "If you asked the other teams 'Are Middlesbrough one of the three worst teams in the league?', I don't suppose many would say we are".
"We all realise the task ahead now, we are six points off safety but we have a game in hand and a terrific goal difference".
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