THE Brazilian beach to which Bryan Robson threatens to banish the errant Emerson for the rest of, his playing days must have looked mighty inviting to his shell-shocked Middlesbrough team last night.

Buffeted by wind, rain, and a brace of Leicester goals against the run of play, their wait for a Premiership victory now stretches almost to three months. Summer's optimism is but a hazy memory.

For the first time in a taxing season, Robson fielded a team without a South American in its ranks. With Emerson AWOL, Branco long departed and Juniaho injured there was an inevitable air of absent friends hanging over proceedings.

Half a dozen first-team stalwarts were also unavailable and it was left to a largely home-grown bunch to provide the magic and muscle capable of arresting a winless league run of nine games.

Phil Stamp frequently pushed up to augment his forwards and, Fabrizio Ravanelli gave him an early chance to open the scoring, but a clumsy finish to the Italian's delightful flick left much to be desired.

Both teams' demeanour reflected their precarious habitat near the foot of the table; even for early December this was the stuff of relegation cliche. Clearances were scrambled, tackles were X-rated and shots snatched.

A sweeping one-touch movement involving Curtis Fleming, Ravanelli and an intelligent through header from Stamp demanded a precise finish, but Craig Hignell buried his shot blindly into Kasey Keller's midriff.

City's United States international goalkeeper dealt equally nonchalantly with a long-range Ravanelli free kick, but had to make a more urgent intervention from the boot of the excellent Stamp, whose shot from distance flashed through a thicket of defenders.

It was against this wave of sustained home pressure that Leicester, typically, took the lead. Fine work from Neil Lennon brought a juicy cross that left the unmarked Steve Claridge the simple task off nodding into goal.

If that left the home crowd bemused, the second blow that followed moments after the resumption provoked mere silence. Garry Parker spurned the penalty area with a short, square free kick that found Muzzy Izzet in acres of space, and the wing-back reacted with aplomb with a blistering drive from 25 yards. Gary Walsh barely moved as it fizzed past him.