Why Middlesbrough FC boss Kim Hellberg's Championship worries are in complete contrast to spring

Boro's head coach offered some honest introspection after his side's 2-2 draw with Millwall.

The Swede was in no mood to luxuriate in his side's stirring comeback which saw them rally from 2-0 down to claim a point that looked unlikely at half-time against a rival who delivered a smart tactical game plan under Alex Neil, a nemesis for the Teessiders in years gone by.

Hellberg – whose side would have taken an outright lead at the summit with three points – blamed himself for the hosts not doing so.

He candidly admitted that he got his starting line-up wrong by sticking with the same offensive line-up following Saturday's dramatic late victory over Norwich City, when euphoria swept around the Riverside at the final whistle.

Hellberg felt his side's lack of energy and intensity in the opening half was his fault alone, perhaps stemming from expecting too much from Tommy Conway – recently back from injury – and Sebastian Berhalter, still assimilating into English football.

Both were replaced at the break. Fortunately, Boro had strong bench players to call upon such as Jeremy Sarmiento, Max Arfsten and Kyle Joseph, who helped change the narrative.

A young head coach from a coaching background who lives, eats and breathes football – and who prides himself on his fastidious attention to detail – Hellberg's anger with himself was juxtaposed with concern. It superseded the fact that Boro, once again, showed a strong jaw in responding after being pegged back, as they also did against Norwich, Lincoln and West Brom.

In fairness, creating chances isn't the problem. Defending is.

Boro's start to the campaign has still been handy. But a concession of 10 goals in seven matches is not something that you associate with a top-two candidate if that trend continues all season. Only Preston and Derby have currently shipped more goals at home and achieving the right defensive balance is likely to be Hellberg's focus during the forthcoming international break.

The Boro chief said: “I look at numbers and all those things and try to put them together.

“You can look at numbers and it's easy to say we're up there with West Ham, we're the two teams who have created the most in the league by all the statistics – it's been very clear.

“We don't concede many chances and we're up with the five or six best (in the division), but we've conceded more goals than they have.

“I think we've done that from not being good enough in defending those opportunities, and how we defended that corner (for the second goal) is not good enough. We can talk tactics and all those things, but losing duels can make it difficult.

“We haven't conceded many chances, but a lot of chances, to be fair, have been goals. That is a problem.”

Luke Ayling and Callum Brittain had particular issues down Boro's right in the first half against Millwall, whose pace and power caused problems on the break.

Alfie Jones and Adilson Malanda also had problematic afternoons versus Norwich. Both centre-backs missed the midweek game due to injury issues. Malanda could return at Birmingham this weekend.

While Ashley Phillips was Boro's steadiest defender in their past two games, he is still assimilating at the club after three successive league starts. Goalkeeper Radek Vitek is still in the early days and developing relationships at the back takes time.

Further forward, there was succour for Hellberg and he displayed a sunnier disposition when talk turned to Amario Cozier-Duberry.

The inverted winger, brought in on the right-hand side to replace Morgan Whittaker, looks like an upgrade on his predecessor.

Whittaker's sweet left-foot when cutting inside was a potent weapon for Boro, but Cozier-Duberry has already shown firm evidence that he will bring more to the table.

Millwall struggled to cope with his speed and trickery when the hosts found their rhythm on the restart. A second goal in consecutive games arrived and after excelling at League One level last term at Bolton, the Brighton loanee has stepped up seamlessly to the division above.

It is likely to be further good news for Boro top-scorer Will Lankshear, who grabbed his eighth goal of the campaign on Tuesday after a two-match goal 'drought'.

Hellberg added: “I think he (Cozier-Duberry) was the best one for our team in the first half and you could see he was also getting tired in the last 20 minutes.

“But you can see the quality he has and I'm very happy with him, and how he takes on his opposition.”

Cozier-Duberry aside, it was a bittersweet night for Hellberg and he probably did not sleep too much. Whatever happens at St Andrew's, the international break is likely to be timely.