'An absolute disgrace' – Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock slams 'pigsty' portacabin changing rooms at Stoke City

Neil Warnock, manager of Middlesborough is held back by a steward during the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke City and Middlesbrough at Bet365 Stadium on December 05, 2020 in Stoke on Trent, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

After the match, Warnock’s disappointment wasn’t directed at Boro’s fourth league defeat of the Championship season but rather the ‘pigsty’ portacabins his players and staff were forced to use before and after the match.

Coronavirus and social distancing protocols mean clubs may be unable to use the usual away changing rooms in stadiums as was the case with Boro on Saturday.

Boro player ratings from defeat at Stoke

And following the narrow defeat, Warnock opened with an unprovoked rant on the changing room conditions at the bet365 Stadium.

"Those changing rooms were a pigsty – in fact, pigs would have seen it and run away,” said the Boro boss.

“They stuck us in a little portacabin. Now you can’t tell me with social distancing we wouldn’t have been better off in the dressing room.

“We give them everything at Middlesbrough – heat, lovely room, and we’re in a pigsty around the corner here.

“The toilets don’t work, they’re blocked. We had fumes coming in before the game and we had to get the maintenance guy in. Why didn't they look at that before we arrived?

“The showers were leaking, water everywhere on the floor. It’s an absolute disgrace!”

While Warnock was quick to point out that it was not an excuse for his side’s performance against Stoke, it’s not something he plans on forgetting quickly. Stoke are set to make the journey up to the Riverside for the reverse fixture on March 13, 2021.

“I didn’t say anything to the players before the game, we just took some pictures because you shouldn't be made to change where we were,” he added. “My dressing room was another portacabin, 20-yards further down the road with water all over the floor, freezing, it’s out of order.

"I know we’ve got the pandemic and things like that but when you look at the facilities we give them at Middlesbrough, I’m sure Stoke City from the Premier League can do better than that.

“There’s no way we’re giving them a dressing room when they come up our place. If our chairman won’t, I’ll pay for a portacabin!”