Overview
- Middlesbrough’s six-match winning streak has given way to a three-game dip after a 1-1 draw with Leicester followed home frustration against Oxford and a loss at Coventry.
- Captain Hayden Hackney says the team must sharpen up in the final third and “almost force the ball in” to convert pressure into goals.
- Hackney rejects any suggestion of lacking effort, saying the squad is giving 100% and will review attacking details to improve.
- He notes opponents are defending deeper in compact low blocks that have limited Boro’s chance creation.
- Coventry have moved five points clear, yet automatic promotion remains in Boro’s hands with an April trip to Ipswich still to come, and the next test is Monday away at Birmingham City.