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Frank football pundit Robbie Savage has taken some flak from irate Teessiders after ranking Boro third in the North-east hotbed hierarchy .

Much travelled midfield man Savage ruffled fans’ feathers by saying that Newcastle and Sunderland both have a matchday buzz that Boro lacks.

And, he insisted, that won’t change if the struggling duo plunge through the relegation trapdoor and Boro go up.

Savage, co-host of the BBC’s Saturday evening 606 phone-in and a Daily Mirror columnist, made the comments about Boro when talking about the prospects of the Premier League losing one or both of the basement battlers.

It was only a brief aside - but it was enough to spark anger among Boro fans.

But the controversial former Leicester, Birmingham, Derby and Blackburn battler is not about to change his mind he told the Gazette today.

"I've got nothing against Middlesbrough"

“I said, and I stand by it, that as a player when you get off the bus at Newcastle and Sunderland you feel like you are in a hotbed of football - and you don’t get that at Middlesbrough,” he reiterated.

“That is no disrespect to Middlesbrough as a town or as a club. It might be a lovely place for a night out. It might be the loveliest place in the country, I don’t know.

“And it is a great football club and the team are doing really well under Aitor Karanka and if they get promoted well good luck to them. It would be brilliant for everyone concerned.

“But that doesn’t change my opinion. I’ve been to all three grounds in the Premier League and as a player you just don’t get the buzz at Middlesbrough that you do at the others.

“And if Newcastle and Sunderland go down and Middlesbrough come up to the Premier League, that will still be true.”

Read more 7 photos that prove Middlesbrough IS a football hotbed, Mr Savage

He explained that the size of the grounds and crowds made the trips to the Tyne/Wear duo exciting for professionals.

“When you get off the bus at those other two teams you know you are in a footballing hotbed,” he restated.

“There are 52,000 fans at Newcastle; 50,000 at the Stadium of Light. As a player you know there will be a big crowd and a big atmosphere and that there is a buzz about the place.

"If you asked 100 football fans I think 99 would agree"

“No disrespect but you don’t get that at Middlesbrough.

“When Middlesbrough dropped out of the Premier League and were getting poor results there were plenty of empty seats. You wouldn’t get that at Newcastle or Sunderland. You just wouldn’t.

“And it is all very well saying Middlesbrough have won a trophy recently but so have Wigan and it doesn’t make them a footballing hotbed either.”

The pull-no-punches pundit did have some positive words for Boro - even if they came with a sting in the tail.

“I’ve got nothing against Middlesbrough,” he said. “They have had some great players and teams over the years.

“I wasn’t at Leicester when they won at Wembley in the League Cup final, I joined a year later, but I did play against some great Middlesbrough players over the years.

“I’ve played against Juninho and Ravanelli and all others like Paul Gascoigne and Gary Pallister so I know that Middlesbrough have had some fantastic players over the years and the fans will be proud of that.

“But even if Newcastle and Sunderland went down and Middlesbrough went up, it wouldn’t change things. I would still believe that the others had a bigger buzz about them and if you asked 100 football fans across the country then I think 99 would agree. There’s no comparison.

“That’s no offence to the area or the club or the fans. That’s my opinion and I stand by it.”