Middlesbrough v Southampton: Kim Hellberg on unwanted first in coaching career and a 'false picture'
JUST eight games into his tenure at Middlesbrough, Kim Hellberg admits he has never experienced anything like the sort of run that Boro are currently enduring.
On the shoulders of leaders Coventry before Christmas, Boro have picked up one point from the last 12 available and are now anxiously looking behind them.
A run of four games without a goal - over seven hours in total - is even more damning. The problem has not been creating, but scoring.
Hellberg said: "I've been coaching for 15 years. I cannot find this type of run (before) - not scoring from any in the last four when playing the way we have been.
"I was actually doing a lot of research after the Hull game in terms of looking at Leeds, Coventry and teams like that who’ve scored a lot of goals in this division.
"I was looking at how they created chances, how many shots and from where; all those things. Premier League teams too, to get a good picture of how it looks; how it looked before I arrived and how it looks now.
"And if you look at how we have created over these last eight games (since taking charge), I think we have the most shots in the league, and the second best xG behind Sheffield United.
"So we're creating a lot of chances; a lot of good chances and having a lot of balls and touches into their box. It’s maybe a false picture."
Despite the worrying recent form of Boro - who know a thing or two after difficult post-Christmas runs from previous seasons of yore - Hellberg remains confident that his side will finish in a 'very good position' come season's end.
He added: "That’s because of how we play. We cannot lose trust in how we're playing and how we're acting because this is the thing that's going to get us results over time."