'That's the tough thing' - Kim Hellberg assesses Middlesbrough's attacking threat after Bristol City draw
Middlesbrough were held to a home draw by Championship rivals Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg has leapt to the defence of his attacking players after they struggled to make an impact for the fourth consecutive home game in Saturday’s draw with Bristol City.
It was midfielder Leo Castledine that made the breakthrough midway through the first-half as he grabbed his first goal since joining Boro from Chelsea during the January transfer window. However, there was a late blow for Hellberg and his players when they were punished for several missed opportunities as Adam Randell grabbed a 96th minute equaliser to ensure the Robins snatched a share of the points from their visit to the Riverside Stadium.
Boro’s form on their home patch has become something of a concern in recent weeks after Hellberg’s men failed to take maximum points from their last four games on Teesside. That dip in form now consists of draws against Bristol City, Leicester City and Oxford United and a defeat against Charlton Athletic and Boro have only managed to score two goals during that time. Significantly, both came from midfield with Castledine’s opener on Saturday and Riley McGree’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Leicester City last month.
The last time a Boro forward scored at the Riverside Stadium came with a brace from Tommy Conway in a 4-0 win against Preston North End in January and the Scot also found the net in the 4-0 away victory at Queens Park Rangers just days after David Strelec was on target in a win at Birmingham City. However, there is no doubt Hellberg needs his forward players to rediscover their touch in front of goal as he looks to guide Boro into the Premier League during the final two months of his first season in charge at the Riverside Stadium.
Fighting
Speaking after Saturday’s draw with Bristol City, the Boro boss defended his attacking players, saying: “But it's not that they miss on purpose. Everyone's trying to score goals, everyone tries to do their best. They are fighting and sometimes it's not about that. Sometimes it's also luck, or it can be different things out of their control - a goalkeeper save, for example. What I'm asking of the players, they give everything. If the outcome of the games would be connected to chances or statistics, we would be celebrating and looking at this team and saying, ‘oh my god, this team is unbelievable’, because that's what we are.
He continued: “I agree, we had to put them in. This should be 4-0. We have to keep working on it, and that's the tough thing. Football is played by how many goals the team score and, for the moment, just in those home games, we haven't scored enough. Over a period of 13 games though, I think we’ve lost two, drawn three and won the rest. So it's a good spell. But it becomes clear when we are not scoring goals from all those opportunities. I think Charlton and this game should be 3-0 up and then it's done, both of them. And that's why I'm telling you I'm proud of the players, I'm proud of how we are playing. When I'm looking at how we play football and that all teams now see as their opportunity against us is on set plays, then that is okay. In general, we did handle a lot of things well, but not the last corner.”
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