Hayden Hackney has vowed that Middlesbrough will put in maximum effort to solve their recent goalscoring problems, stressing that they simply need to be more clinical in the attacking third.
Boro’s push for promotion has stalled over the past week, with Kim Hellberg’s team collecting only two points from the last nine on offer. This has allowed Coventry City to restore a five-point cushion at the summit, while Millwall, Ipswich Town and Hull City have narrowed the gap behind them.
In particular, the last two matches — home draws against struggling Oxford United and Leicester City — highlighted Boro’s lack of cutting edge in front of goal.
Speaking after Tuesday’s stalemate, Hackney told BBC Tees: “Frustrating is the right word. We need to be that bit sharper, but we also need things to drop for us in the penalty area. There are always small details you can improve to make that happen, and we’ll work on those.
“Teams are sitting off us more and defending deeper in a low block. But really, if we’re just slightly sharper in the final third… I talked about things falling for us — maybe during our winning run, those moments were going our way. The runner in the box was being picked out and things clicked.
“It sounds simple, but it’s about choosing the right pass, attacking the cutback, and then there’s that bit of luck too. Shots not getting blocked, deflections going in our favour… we just need to keep going.
“I don’t think we’re forcing it, and I definitely don’t think effort is the issue. Everyone is giving everything. We’ll review it tomorrow, the manager will point out areas to improve, and then we go again on Monday.
“Maybe playing away in the next two games will help us. All we can do is focus on each match one at a time, prepare properly, and aim for three points. I don’t feel like we’re in trouble — we just need to tidy up those moments in the final third and fix it. Hopefully we will.”
Boro next travel to face Birmingham City on Monday night as they look to get their season back on track. The Blues will also be eager to respond after suffering a 3-0 defeat away to Millwall on Wednesday evening.
