'Killed us' - Kim Hellberg rues Middlesbrough FC draws after Swansea City clash as promotion admission made
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg has conceded draws have “killed” his side - and that his side probably need to win all of their remaining games.
After a run of five games without a win, Middlesbrough have lost their automatic promotion spot in the Championship.
They have been leapfrogged by Ipswich Town, who are level on points with third-placed Boro having played two fewer games.
Hellberg has accepted his side may need to win all five of their remaining fixtures if they are to stand a chance of avoiding the play-off lottery.
Kim Hellberg’s admission
He said: “Ipswich are in a massive pole position. We have to find wins and points. Even though this period has been poor, we have suffered only a few defeats. It’s the draws that have killed us.
“We probably have to win all five of our remaining games to get past them. It’s very difficult to get those wins, but we will try and get as many points as possible and then we will see where we end up.”
Mistakes against Swansea City
Yesterday (April 6), Middlesbrough took the lead at Swansea City via Alex Bangura. However, Hellberg’s men gave away two penalties and both were steered home by Zan Vipotnik.
Tommy Conway equalised from the penalty spot with 15 minutes of normal time remaining but a winner could not be found.
Hellberg said: “You cannot concede penalties like that. I know that, the players know that, but everyone makes mistakes – I do it every day.
“It’s how you recover that matters. It’s easy to blame people but I thought we were strong and I was impressed with the group.”
Vitor Matos’ view
Swansea boss Vitor Matos, who oversaw a 3-3 draw with Sheffield United on Good Friday, said: “We needed to control the game without the ball, getting compact, getting the right timings, the right positions, the right organisation.
“We knew Middlesbrough is a really good team with the ball, with a lot of individual technique in all positions, which can hurt you.
“With two games [over Easter] and all the internationals arriving last Thursday, you need first to be organised and compact and then you can put pressure and be effective.
“That’s what we tried and then when we had the ball, we tried to use it to create some good chances.
“We needed to use counter-attacks and for that some players were really important. I think overall it was a good game.”