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Grant Leadbitter wants to be part of “something special” with Boro and says he knows what promotion would mean to the people of Teesside.

The Middlesbrough FC skipper will lead his team out at the Riverside Stadium today knowing a draw will take the club back to the Premier League after a seven year absence.

Leadbitter, who joined Boro from Ipswich in June 2012 with the express intention of eventually playing in the top flight once again, said: “I want to be part of something special with this group in this dressing room.

“There’s good people in this dressing room. A lot of players just say that but, trust me, it is true.

“This club has a really strong dressing room. We’re all good friends in the dressing room and we all get on because we know that when the chips are down we can rely on each other.

“There’s a lot of good people in the dressing room who I’m sure, that when we move on, we’ll stay in contact for a long time.

“We’ve gone through a lot together and I’m sure that will benefit us.”

On potentially gaining promotion with Boro, Leadbitter added: “It was always the main ambition to get the club back to the top-flight.

“When I first came here, that was what I wanted to do.

“I have to thank Tony Mowbray for bringing me to this club, and ever since then, I’ve loved it. I don’t know why, but I love playing for the club.

“I think you play your best football when you enjoy playing for a football club, and I’ve certainly enjoyed myself here.

“It always helps when there’s good people around you, and from upstairs to downstairs, that’s the case here.

“When people work well together, you have success on the pitch and that’s what we’ve had this season.”

Former Sunderland midfielder Leadbitter, 30, is a proud North-easterner and is well aware of the problems that the region, especially Teesside, has had to endure over recent years, particularly with regard to job losses in the steel industry.

He says the local lads in the dressing room keep him posted on the latest developments in Middlesbrough and the surrounding towns and villages.

“Ben Gibson, Jonathan Woodgate and Stewart Downing are from the area,” he said. “It certainly helps because they know the area, they have family in the area, they know people in the area and they keep feeding stuff into the dressing room about it, which is good and benefits the group.

“We’re aware of what’s going on. You do see things and you do hear things around the place. Especially with what’s gone on over the last 12 months, it would be better for the area if the club went up.

“I’ve always felt this club is in the wrong division, but there are a lot of other teams that would say the same thing,” he added.

“That’s one thing you learn; there are a lot of good teams in this division and it’s always hard to get out of it.

“The three teams will deserve to go up, no matter who they are. We’ll certainly be looking to be one of them.”