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<\/p>\nKim Hellberg offers his verdict after Middlesbrough were beaten 3-1 by Coventry City<\/p>\n
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg appears dejected(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Kim Hellberg said Middlesbrough\u2019s first-half performance at Coventry City was the most frustrating aspect of his side\u2019s defeat to promotion rivals, as he laid the blame for it at his own door.<\/p>\n
Boro<\/a> were beaten 3-1 at the CBS Arena after a Haji Wright hat-trick ended their six-game winning streak. It sent Coventry back to the top of the Championship, leapfrogging Boro.<\/p>\n A performance of two halves, Boro were deservedly behind at the interval after struggling to get to grips with the game. Only trailing 1-0 though, there felt an opportunity in the second half, with a nervous energy building around the ground.<\/p>\n That was largely thanks to Boro\u2019s positive start to the second half. But they twice squandered vital momentum swings in the game, firstly falling 2-0 behind despite their positive start, and then conceding a penalty and third goal just moments after pulling it back to 2-1.<\/p>\n While both were uncharacteristically soft goals for Boro to concede, it was still the manner of the first half performance that bothered the Swede most.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThe biggest frustration is on myself for not helping them better in the first half. That’s the biggest frustration. Goals can happen. It’s tough when you look at the game, how it is, but I’m more disappointed that we don’t get out with the ball, that we don’t do a better first half.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do a lot of good stuff, but we don’t get out with the ball – we don’t take the ball forward when we solve it. That’s a bigger frustration for me. It ended up being too many duels and they, of course with the home crowd, they win more duels than us.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we solved it a lot of times but then went back into the pressure. Our positioning was not good enough. That comes from me; they\u2019re unclear from me. They were better than us in the first half and 1-0 is maybe a fair result.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don’t have so many chances, but more than us. I think we are very good when we get up to the final third, but we don’t do it enough because we’re not good enough with the ball. Still, we make the game look like we want in terms of that, but we’re not good enough in it.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, the Boro boss appreciated the importance of the the two second-half goals that Coventry scored, and the terrible timing of both. He was brutally honest in his verdict of both.<\/p>\n \u201cSecond half, I think we are actually brilliant if we take away the two situations where they score their goals,\u201d he said. \u201cComing out, creating a lot of opportunities around the box.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goals are just terrible timing; terrible goals to concede. I think they are in our half two times and they score both off them from not doing so much. You cannot let a very good opponent do that or it will be difficult to get out with some points.<\/p>\n \u201cYou will not win away against Coventry if you concede those types of goals. It kills me that we didn’t get the opportunity to keep playing in that momentum, where they score the goals, because I think we had a good period in the game in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search<\/a><\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n Here at TeessideLive, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Middlesbrough FC<\/a> coverage and analysis.<\/p>\n Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest Boro news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here <\/a>to subscribe.<\/p>\n Your information will be hidden, you’ll only ever receive messages from the Teesside Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice <\/a>.<\/p>\n