Birmingham City v Middlesbrough: Championship heat on Boro, but Kim Hellberg stays calm
AT the start of March, the heat is on for Kim Hellberg's Middlesbrough.
While results went for them in many respects on the previous weekend, they most definitely didn't on Saturday with promotion rivals Coventry City, Ipswich Town, Hull City and Millwall all winning to put a fair degree of pressure on the shoulders of the Teessiders, ahead of Monday's hazardous looking trip to Birmingham City.
St Andrew's has been a veritable fortress over the past few seasons for Blues, who have lost just once in 16 home league outings this term.
The only away victors at Championship level so far in 2025-26 are Hull, who triumphed 3-2 back on October 18.
Hellberg, whose side are winless in three matches after drawing successive home matches against Leicester City and Oxford United following a 3-1 defeat in their key showdown at Coventry a fortnight ago, believes that some perspective must be afforded regarding his side, who have lost just once at league level since New Year's Day.
He said: "We’ve lost one of the last nine games and drawn two of them. When you look at those draws, we created a lot of opportunities.
"We haven’t been good enough with our shots, and that’s how it works sometimes. When you pause the picture before we shoot, they’re amazing opportunities, but the result of the shot is what people remember.
"We just need to keep working and keep finding ways to score and ways to improve."
Boro face a Blues side who still have a chance of gatecrashing the play-offs, according to Hellberg.
He continued: "They had a tough result last Wednesday but they’ve been good for a long time and are trying to push for the play-offs. They’re a very good side and want to play."