Middlesbrough FC news: Tony Pulis delivers verdict on Brentford defeat plus Wigan midfielder fires Boro warning

Jonathan Woodgate’s side came from behind twice at Griffin Park but eventually went down 3-2 after conceding three minutes from time.

Pulis later appeared as a pundit on the EFL’s highlights show on Quest and said: “I watched the game today, I thought it was a good game and I thought Middlesbrough did well.

“They created some opportunities Middlesbrough, but I think they were always a little bit short defensively especially out wide.

“But they made a really, really good game of it today and at the end Middlesbrough will be disappointed that they got beat.”

Wigan midfielder calls for reaction

After a shock 1-0 win over Leeds, relegation-threatened Wigan sunk further into the relegation zone following a 2-1 defeat at home to Preston.

Next up for the Latics is a home meeting against Boro on Tuesday night, and midfielder Joe Williams has called for a reaction.

"Preston won more battles, that's the main thing,” Williams told Latics TV. “They made the right decisions and they started much brighter than us. We can't start games like we did in the second half.

"We've got to take this one on the chin. We had two good results before this, so we just need to stay positive. We know what we've got in our group to get results in this league.

"We're all looking forward to putting it right on Tuesday against Middlesbrough.

"The worst possible thing would be waiting another week. Everyone will be champing at the bit for Tuesday now. We're aiming to get a big result for everyone."

Saville says Boro are looking up

The Brentford defeat has left Boro just seven points above the relegation zone, yet midfielder George Saville wanted to focus on the positives after the game.

“We don’t want to be looking over our shoulder, maybe before Christmas we were," said Saville. “We feel we are in a position to kick on now and performances like at Brentford will see results come our way.”