Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg sends defiant message ahead of Ipswich trip - "We believe"

Kim Hellberg insists his Middlesbrough side will stick to ‘what we are good at’ in the final weeks of the Championship season as they look to keep their promotion hopes alive.

After occupying second place for so long, Boro have dropped to fifth with a six-game slump without a win, picking up just three points along the way. Now, they prepare to travel to Ipswich Town on Sunday, and with the Tractor Boys three points ahead in second and with a game in hand, the Teessiders know they simply must win to retain a chance of automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Kim Hellberg sticking to style with Middlesbrough

The most frustrating thing about Boro’s current winless run is just how much they’ve dominated games. In the 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth on Saturday, for example, they outshot the visitors 20-3, having controlled 71% possession. However, all their efforts totalled just 1.22 xG (FotMob), while they were sucker-punched by Conor Chaplin’s goal from a corner in the 97th minute - Pompey’s only shot on target in the entire match.

That’s been the trend throughout recent results, and in the days since the Portsmouth loss, many fans have called on Hellberg to change Boro’s approach and perhaps go more direct to try and find a route to goal. Hellberg was asked in his recent press conference about how he and his players have been staying resilient during this slump. The Swedish coach used the question as an opportunity to reiterate that he will be sticking to his stylistic guns.

“We’re just trying to do what we are doing. We believe in the way we work,” said Hellberg. “We’ve had one week now to train, and try to go through everything. Because that’s the thing; everybody has different opinions about what is the right thing to do, and that’s how it is. But in this group, it’s very important that we be clear on what we want to do, how we want to play, how we want to act.

“What we’ve gone through this week, we’ve been very, very clear in every aspect of the game. What we believe in, what we are good at. I don’t believe in doing things that you’re not good at, or things you don’t train at. I don’t think that is going to give you success.

Middlesbrough’s remaining Championship fixtures:

• 19/04/26: Ipswich Town (A)
• 22/04/26: Sheffield Wednesday (H)
• 25/04/26: Watford (H)
• 02/05/26: Wrexham (A)

“So that’s what we’ve gone through, the way we want to play, the way we want to act in every aspect of the game. This week [without a game] has given us that opportunity. It’s been a very good week for us. We’ve gained a lot of good things from this week, so I’m looking forward to going into the last two weeks of the Championship.”

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