Middlesbrough v Charlton Athletic: What Kim Hellberg had to say about Championship pressure
MIDDLESBROUGH head coach Kim Hellberg says he and his players must not shy away from the pressure that they will be under throughout a climactic spring - as the Teessiders seek to end their decade-long exile from the Premier League.
Promotion-chasing Boro welcome Charlton Athletic on Wednesday evening with Hellberg's side heading into the game on the back of excellent away wins at QPR and Birmingham City.
Those triumphs followed disappointing home draws against Oxford United and Leicester City, with Boro now having successive Riverside appointments this week against Charlton and bogey side Bristol City.
On a tense battle for automatic promotion alongside Coventry City, Millwall and Ipswich Town, Hellberg said: "It's pressure every day. It's not just when it's something to play for.
"We don't score one game, it's pressure from not scoring a goal. We don't win one game, it's pressure from that.
"You get a tough start when you arrive as a new coach or new player, it's pressure from that.
"It's pressure when you get a chance to play as a player and you have to perform, because otherwise you're on the bench next game. It's pressure all the time, every day. This work is just about managing pressure all the time and getting energy from it.
"Then it's a different type of pressure and different players, human beings, act differently to it, to different types of pressure.
"But I just see it as a great possibility for us to be in this position. We could be in a worse position, that would be more pressure than fighting for something positive.
"We feel that we’re very, very good at playing football for the moment, and I’m very proud of that. I see it more as a joy and as a possibility.
“The next game, Charlton, is the most important game we play this season, and the next game after that will be as well."