It’s what made him so angry afterwards in the final analysis.

Rohl’s side resembled a team of individuals doing their own thing instead of a collective unit. A ‘team’ who were outworked by their opponent and lacked intensity and tactical discipline.

With games running out and sides in their vicinity of the table on the horizon in QPR, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers, Wednesday simply cannot afford a repeat of their awful 2-0 loss at Boro. The one consolation is that the margin of defeat was significantly less than it might have been on another day.

Rohl said: “You talk about this shape and that shape, but if you don’t invest a lot, then these things happen in football. Especially away, these are issues.

“I come back to the Ipswich game. At the end, it was 6-0. We speak about the shape and this and this.

"But there’s no error to data and it was nine kilometres (running) less than the opponent and it means we don’t invest enough. This is a big, big problem for me.

“I compare this with Preston for example when we won 1-0 and had 15 or 20 minutes with one man less and we were more than (better) than the opponent.

“There were a lot of basics wrong (at Boro). I can have a lot of ideas in my mind about how we play as a team, but if you don’t do the right things, it’s hard. But it’s my job and I try and bring them back on track.”

Only Rotherham (54) have conceded more goals on the road than Wednesday’s tally of 40, from 20 games.

Set-piece concessions, now up to 13, is becoming another Achilles heel, regardless of venue.

Rohl, whose side conceded an opener from a corner and the second goal from their own flagkick, added: “It is a big, big part in the last weeks.

"You saw against Huddersfield, Ipswich, Bristol (City) and Swansea. It’s a big part in this league.

“We can also look at how many set-pieces we conceded (against Middlesbrough) and this is also a risk. If you are more active and push them out, then you will not have so many against you.

“It is an issue at the moment and it is costing points and it breaks your belief. We have to find a solution.”

Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl calls on Owls to 'invest' more in order to avoid feared relegation