He didn't shout and he didn't scream, said full-back Tony McMahon. He just looked each of us in the eye and asked, 'Are you capable of doing this'
Seven days earlier, as Boro had shipped three goals in 30 second-half minutes to lose at home to Swansea City, the answer had been a resounding 'No'.
With 78 minutes of this weekend's game gone, and with Millwall midfielder Hameur Bouazza having just levelled the scores with a fantastic long-range free-kick, the reply was still in the balance.
But once referee Chris Sarginson blew his whistle to end an afternoon of fraught and frantic entertainment, Mowbray's poser had finally received a positive response.
A first victory at Millwall since 1973, a second successive three-goal haul for the first time in 18 months, a seven-point gap to the Championship's bottom three ahead of difficult home games against QPR and Nottingham Forest. More importantly, though, belief, and a much-needed realisation that Middlesbrough are capable of flourishing among the muck and nettles that populate much of English football's second tier.
Some honest words were spoken at half-time, said Mowbray. But after some of the things that have happened recently, we had to show we could do this. I thought they all responded fantastically well, and the atmosphere after the final whistle just shows how much desire there is within this group of players to get results.
It was tough out there. There was all sorts going on both on and off the pitch and it's a huge credit to the players that they were able to stand up to that.
In particular, I was delighted that we withstood a very difficult last six minutes (of stoppage time). The ball must have come into our box about 50 times in that period, but we dealt with it ever so well and showed a tremendous desire to deal with the situation.
In that respect, it's a huge result for us. We've played pretty well ever since I've been here, but either things haven't gone for us or we haven't been able to put games to bed. This was different.
For a brief period at the end of the game, however, there was a risk of events taking a familiar turn, so let's start with the final six minutes. With the clock ticking into injury time, and with Boro leading 3-2, Millwall launched a series of hopeful aerial raids into the opposition box.
The tactic had already worked once, with Neil Harris firing the hosts into a first-half lead after Steve Morison climbed highest to flick on goalkeeper David Forde's long punt, and recent history was also on the Lions' side.
This was Doncaster, Leeds, Burton and Swansea all over again matches where Boro had conceded a crucial goal in stoppage time. For once, though, the defence held firm.
Why Well partly because goalkeeper Jason Steele produced a fine late stop to deny Bouazza, but primarily because, after weeks of appearing rudderless, the Boro backline finally had a leader willing to assume responsibility for dealing with a rugged and physical strike force.
Andrew Davies only rejoined his hometown team on Friday, but his second Middlesbrough debut could not have gone any better or been any more required.
Playing between Seb Hines and Jonathan Grounds in a new-look back five, the Stockton-born stopper had already made a series of dramatic interventions, tackling as though his life depended on it and turning a succession of dangerous low crosses behind his own goal.
It was in stoppage time, though, where he came into his own, with his aerial prowess repelling a Millwall side that had won their previous six Championship home games.
On loan until the end of the season after falling out of favour at the Britannia Stadium, Davies already looks like an astute acquisition.
I'm over the moon for Andrew, said McMahon. He's a pal of mine and he's had such a hard time at Stoke. For whatever reason, he's had a nightmare two years and hasn't played anything like the football he would have wanted.
But this is a chance for him. The gaffer threw him straight in and I thought, straight away, you could see what he's about. He leads the team, he's competitive and he'll win every header he can. It says an awful lot about his character that he can come straight in and do that, but I would never question that because I know what sort of lad he is.
He was in the middle of two younger centre-halves, and you could see the way he was pulling them through. He got me and Joe (Bennett) back when we were needed, and he just led the line so well.
I've seen what he's been through and I've seen him at the lowest of the low. After this, he'll probably be at the highest of the high and he deserves to be.
Davies' efforts were a key factor in the victory, but the 26-year-old was not the only recent arrival making an instant impact on proceedings.
Trailing to Harris' opener, Boro equalised when McMahon curled in a sensational 25-yard free-kick shortly before the hour mark.
I'll talk about the goal all day if you want, said the defender, who has now scored two goals in four matches after going more than six years without a senior Middlesbrough goal. I told Tayls (Andrew Taylor) I was going to smash it. He just gave me a look of disgust and said, 'No Macca, just cross it'. But I thought why not, and I'll probably never score a goal like that again.
Still, at 1-1, and with Millwall having hit the woodwork in the first half through James Henry, the hosts remained the likeliest winners until substitute Merouane Zemmama produced two crucial interventions that changed the game.
The Moroccan, who made his Boro debut as a 75th-minute substitute against Swansea, displayed superb fleetness of foot in the 62nd minute, dribbling past two defenders on the edge of the area before fashioning an exquisite through ball that enabled Scott McDonald, in what appeared to be an offside position, to drill a low finish past Forde.
Then, after Bouazza had equalised with a ferocious free-kick, the 27-year-old, who moved on a free transfer from Hibernian on deadline day, was at it again, creating sufficient space on the right-hand side to deliver a teasing cross that Leroy Lita glanced home from close range.
That's the reason he's here, said Mowbray. He can beat a man and do something a little bit different. He's only just coming back after four or five months out with a cruciate so we can't expect too much of him. But he's already shown glimpses of what he's capable of with the ball.
He produced a real eye of a needle pass for Scott McDonald and, in a tight game like this, that bit of real quality can make the difference.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo