Defensive frailties are exposed yet again as Boro’s slide continues

“I stopped looking at the table in my mind a few weeks ago,” admitted manager Tony Mowbray.

“We just have to win football matches. If we win games let’s see where the season takes us. But, obviously, we are finding it difficult to win matches at the moment.

“Yet if we had won at Derby County on New Year’s Day we could have gone top of the table and that is the stark reality of our position.

“Confidence does get eroded with defeats and yet the defeats probably come along because you don’t have key players available.

“I felt that we gave Wolves a tough game, but the reality is that we did not get any points.

“It is about getting points and I could not see us losing the game.

“But if you analyse our season we have conceded way too many goals for a team that can get out of this league. That needs to be addressed, but in the meantime we have to attack games as draws are no good for us at the moment.

“It (reaching the play-offs) is a big ask for us, but things can change quickly and this is a ridiculous league this time.

“Don’t pick your coupon on the Championship is what I would suggest.”

Kevin Doyle’s 70th-minute header settled a frenetic encounter which had seen Wolves twice throw away the lead.

Returning Boro defender Stephen McManus put through his own net after 17 minutes although Grant Leadbitter soon levelled, his effort hitting the underside of the crossbar and being adjudged to have crossed the line by the referee’s assistant.

Boro hit the woodwork a total of four times in the first half, but it was Wanderers who re-established their advantage immediately after the restart courtesy of Bjorn Sigurdarson, yet Leadbitter pulled the visitors level shortly after with a great strike from distance.

Wanderers were applying plenty of pressure in search of a winner and Doyle sent the home faithful into raptures 20 minutes from time with the decisive when he headed home, inflicting an 11th league defeat on Boro in 14 games since the turn of the year.

Wolves manager Dean Saunders praised the determination of his players after they boosted their attempt to avoid relegation.

Wolves are now just a point from safety and Saunders said: “The game was unbelievable to watch for a neutral. Both teams could have scored 10.

“We went for it and if we keep winning I think the way other results are going we have a chance of getting in the play-offs.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers: De Vries, Doherty, Johnson, Gorkss, Robinson, Sigurdarson, Davis, O’Hara (Henry 76), Hunt (Ward 86), Doyle (Batth 81), Ebanks-Blake. Unused substitutes: McCarey, Hammill, Dicko, Doumbia.

Middlesbrough: Steele, McManus, Bikey, Woodgate (Zemmama 74), Hoyte, Carayol (Ameobi 62), Leadbitter, Reach (Dyer 62), Friend, Jutkiewicz, McDonald. Unused substitutes: Leutwiler, McEachran, Hines, Miller.

Referee: A Bates (Staffordshire).

Man of the match: Bjorn Sigurdarson.