Middlesbrough battled to a 1-1 draw with Championship rivals Leicester City on Tuesday night.
There was further frustration for Middlesbrough as they were forced to settle for a point in Tuesday night’s home game with Championship rivals Leicester City - but Boro boss Kim Hellberg has insisted his side are still in ‘an unbelievable position’ to secure promotion into the Premier League.
After falling to a defeat at title rivals Coventry City and being held to a goalless home draw by struggling Oxford United in their previous two games, Hellberg’s side were looking to put pressure on the Sky Blues by claiming a win against a Leicester City firmly in the battle to avoid relegation into League One after they were hit with another points deduction.
However, it was the visitors that drew first blood at the Riverside Stadium as they took the lead just after the quarter-hour mark as defender Caleb Okoli sent a header beyond Boro keeper Sol Brynn after meeting a free-kick from Divine Mukasa. Tommy Conway had some of Boro’s brightest moments in the first-half and came close to grabbing an equaliser on 35 minutes when the Scottish forward saw a deflected effort drift narrowly wide. Conway did have a part in helping his side find an equaliser before half-time as his ball across goal allowed Riley McGree to beat Foxes goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to restore parity at the interval.
Both sides had chances to snatch all three points during the second-half with Leicester striker Patson Daka sending an effort wide and McGree and David Stralec both trying their luck for Boro without being able to find a way beyond veteran goalkeeper Begovic.
The draw leaves Boro two points behind leaders Coventry - although Frank Lampard’s side will now hope to make the most of their game in-hand when they visit Sheffield United on Wednesday night. Despite his understandable frustration over his side being unable to see off a struggling Leicester, Boro boss Hellberg urged his players to ‘keep improving’ and took a positive view of their current position in the battle to claim relegation into the Premier League.
Quality
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The Swede told BBC Radio Tees: "It makes it one loss in the last nine, but of course you want to win games. We weren't good enough to win today. From the last two games we created a lot of opportunities but for us now the ball is not going into the net to win it. But in those games we have two more points to our tally. We wanted more but that's done, so we have to work from it and keep improving.
"You take points you get at this stage of the season and keep working. We're in an unbelievable position and we will keep working hard to keep it. It was two good teams going at each other. They have a lot of quality and we have the same.”
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