CLEAR the air talks at Rockliffe Park have helped the Boro players and coaching staff take the first steps towards getting on with the rest of the season, says Luke Young.

The England international full-back revealed that a meeting was held on Monday when opinions were exchanged on what had gone wrong against Cardiff.

"We've had a collective meeting, staff and players together, and opened the air up a bit and cleared a few things up," he said.

"You can't just ignore things that are going wrong, especially in the position we're in in the league as well.

"It was a good meeting and a lot of positive things came out of it. We're all looking forward now to tonight and trying to give something back to the fans."

In the first interview given by a Boro player since the defeat, Young told mfc.co.uk the whole team fully understood just how much the performance hurt the fans.

"It just wasn't good enough and nothing we can say now is going to put us through in the cup," he said. "It was a disappointing day for everyone involved with the club.

"For some reason, I'm not sure why, we didn't start and we allowed a side to come on our own patch and dominate the game right from the off.

"But we've got 10 games to go in the league and we have to start getting some points."

Boro now turn their attentions to a relegation battle with a tough test against high-flying Aston Villa - and Young says the team must hit the ground running.

"We've watched a video of them, they're well organised and have plenty of pace in their side and it's going to be a difficult place to go to, but we're up for the fight.

"We know their strengths and hopefully we can overcome them. Middlesbrough have always had a knack of going to difficult places and getting results against the top sides.

"It's good to have a game so soon after the one on Sunday. If you get a performance you've got a chance of picking up points.

"Without that you won't get anything - as we showed on Sunday. It's vitally important that we move on as quickly as possible."

GO TO MFC DIRECT ONLINE NOW TO ORDER YOUR AWAY KIT AT SPECIALLY REDUCED PRICES!