MIDDLESBROUGH midfielder Aidan Morris insists that Sol Brynn should not take the blame for another episode of Wembley – and play-off – heartache for the Teessiders.

Brynn's wretched error settled the game on 95 minutes against Hull City, with Oli McBurnie pouncing upon the mistake to fire the Tigers into the Premier League for the first time since 2016-17 – the last season that Boro also sampled top-flight football.

But Morris says that the side's well-documented lack of potency at the other end of the pitch – showcased throughout a fraught spring – was just as big a reason why.

Morris, who was the first on the scene to console the young keeper before head Adi Viveash arrived too, said: “We have to hold ourselves accountable. People make mistakes, that's life, that's football.

Hull City's John Lundstram and Paddy McNair greet Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg and Aidan Morris following the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire.

placeholder image — Hull City's John Lundstram and Paddy McNair greet Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg and Aidan Morris following the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire.

“Sol makes that catch nine times out of 10. You can go to the other end and we could have scored more goals and done something to stop the cross.

“Sol's a great player and a great 'dude' and it's part of life and you deal with it to make you better.

“Things get tough and life will get tough again. That's life as a footballer. It's never going to be perfect and you can always come back from situations and remember how you feel, how much it hurt,” he added.

Morris, pictured, himself took some element of personal responsibility following Boro's failure to win promotion in a season when they were in the top two for most of it.

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn applauds the fans following the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire.

His main sense of sorrow afterwards was for Boro’s support base, with the club selling out their allocation of 36,000 tickets in the west end of the stadium in under 48 hours after their place in the final was only confirmed on Wednesday evening.

They came after a league arbitration panel upheld the decision of an independent commission to expel Southampton – who beat Boro 2-1 in the semi-final – from Saturday’s showpiece.

Saints were also handed a four-point deduction for the forthcoming Championship season after the club admitted spying on Boro ahead of the first leg of their semi-final at the Riverside Stadium on May 9 and ahead of league matches against Oxford United in December and Ipswich in April.

Fronting up, the American, whose difficult weekend was compounded by his reported non-inclusion in the USA squad for the forthcoming World Cup, added: “That’s the most disappointing thing (for the supporters). I feel like we let so many down. I let so many down.

“It feels like deja vu from ten days ago (at Southampton).

“We got a second chance at it. We couldn't get it done against Southampton and we didn't get it done and we had a chance (on Saturday) and didn't get it done either.

“The fans have been unbelievable; I didn't notice the Hull fans until they scored the goal.

“They are the heart and soul of this team and club. It is disappointing, but we aren’t going to be victims. It's our fault and we could have done more. We just weren't good enough and that's it.

“It was difficult and not a normal football situation, but we should have been better.”