'The pitch was diabolical' says Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock after Sheffield Wednesday defeat

First-half goals from Callum Paterson and Liam Shaw gave the Owls a commanding lead before Boro applied some sustained pressure in the second half.

Duncan Watmore pulled a goal back for the visitors shortly after the interval but the Teessiders struggled to test goalkeeper Keiren Westwood on a frustrating evening.

After the match, Warnock said: “The pitch was diabolical so everyone is knocking it long and you can’t really get much pattern to it.

“You can’t really blame the players tonight, I think you have to adapt to the conditions and you have to get used to that.”

When asked about the goals his side conceded, Warnock added: “It’s not very often they make mistakes like that, I won’t name names but at half-time you don’t have to tell them, they know they’ve made a mistake.

“That’s probably the first one this season where the defenders have made a mistake.

“One or two lads were disappointed that there weren’t yellow cards for some of their tackles and then when our lads made a tackle it was a yellow card.

“I said you just have to get on with it, we had this referee at Hull last year so at least he’s consistent.

“I thought we kept the ball well and tried to be patient to get the opportunities but just couldn’t take them.”

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