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  1. Work to do in final third - Hellbergpublished at 15:01 GMT

    Media caption,

    Hellberg: Leicester 'have top-quality players'

    Ahead of Tuesday's visit of struggling Leicester, Kim Hellberg says Middlesbrough need to sharpen up in the final third

    Against Oxford United at the Riverside on Saturday Boro enjoyed nearly 75% of the possession and mustered 24 shots on the U's goal but had to settle for a point from a goalless draw to lose ground on leaders Coventry.

    While Boro have scored nine goals in their past six home games, conceding only once, eight of those goals came in two games against Southampton and Preston in January.

    After the frustration of Saturday, manager Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees: "It's good the games keep coming.

    "Almost every team we have played have ended up in a low block. We need to get better on it.

    "No Championship team has been in the opposition box as many times as we did against Oxford but we need to create more from it. If you look back it's unbelievable how many opportunities we should have.

    "In a normal game with some more quality maybe we could have scored four or five. We have won games at home with less opportunities than we had in this game.

    "We need to keep improving. We need to be better at putting the ball into the box from more narrow positions.

    "We need to keep working. For us it's key to hurt teams in different ways."

    Leicester are winless in eight games and sit in the bottom three thanks to a six-point deduction but stopped the rot after four straight defeats as they were pegged back to draw 2-2 at Stoke late on in Gary Rowett's first game in charge on Saturday.

    "I saw the game against Stoke," Hellberg, 38, said. "They have absolutely top-quality players who have played in the Premier League and Champions League. It's an unbelievable squad.

    "It's weird that they are so [low], though they have had the points deduction of course."

  2. Pick of the stats: Middlesbrough v Leicester Citypublished at 10:09 GMT

    Club badges bannerImage source, Opta

    Middlesbrough will seek to get back to winning ways as they welcome beleaguered Leicester to the Riverside on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

    Boro followed-up their defeat at Championship leaders Coventry with a goalless draw at home to second-bottom Oxford United on Saturday to lie three points behind the Sky Blues at the summit, though with a six-point advantage over third-placed Millwall.

    The Foxes remain in the bottom-three, a point adrift of West Brom, after being pegged back to draw 2-2 at Stoke on Saturday, though it ended a run of four straight league defeats.

    City remain winless in seven Championship games on the road since early December, however.

    • Having been winless in 14 league games against Leicester between 2003 and 2017 (D8 L6), Middlesbrough have now won two of their past three against the Foxes (D1).

    • Leicester have only lost two of their 13 league games against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium (W6 D5), though one of these was their most recent visit in November 2023.

    • Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their past five league games against Leicester (W2 D3), last having a longer run between 1930 and 1934 (9 games).

    • Middlesbrough have alternated between defeat (2) and victory (2) in their past four midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games, beating Stoke City 2-1 last time out.

    • Leicester are winless in their past 12 midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D4 L8), alternating between a draw and a defeat in their eight in the Championship this season.

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  3. Boro miss opportunity against resilient U'spublished at 22:51 GMT 21 February

    Nathan Albon
    5 Live Sport reporter at the Riverside

    Middlesbrough's Callum Brittain takes on Oxford's Jin Woo JeonImage source, Getty Images

    As the gulls swooped around the Riverside looking for tasty morsels… there were no such delights for Middlesbrough today.

    Real sense of opportunity missed as second from top played second from bottom.

    Oxford clung on at times, but came with a clear gameplan. They came on the team bus, and they parked that bus… Blocks, tackles, clearances, the lot.

    And they were a threat on the break - twice hitting the woodwork through Stanley Mills and Myles Peart-Harris in the first half.

    So Oxford drag themselves closer to safety, but they're still five points adrift.

    And Middlesbrough, who were two points clear before losing to Coventry on Monday, now find themselves winless in two and three points behind the leaders

  4. Hellberg wants to move on quickly from Oxford drawpublished at 18:13 GMT 21 February

    Media caption,

    Hellberg: 'It wasn't our day' v Oxford United

    Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg refused to dwell on the disappointment of being held at home to relegation-threatened Oxford United.

    Boro missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Coventry as they drew 0-0 with Oxford, who hit the woodwork twice in the first half.

    Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees: "We knew that was going to be the game. If we score early, it could open up a little bit. We didn't, they had some chances in the first half, they could have scored.

    "We had some chances through the game, especially in the second half.

    "At the end it's 0-0, there's no goal, you have to take the point and move on.

    "This is the part when you play against these teams when they defend with their heart all the time.

    "We should have scored, that's how it is, but we didn't. It's one point to add to the tally and we keep moving on."

    Boro, who are three points off the league leaders with a six-point gap to Millwall in third, host another relegation-threatened side in Leicester City on Tuesday

  5. Pick of the stats: Middlesbrough v Oxford Unitedpublished at 10:44 GMT 20 February

    The club badges of Middlesbrough and Oxford United side by side

    Middlesbrough had their six-game winning streak in the Championship ended by Coventry City on Monday night - a result which meant the Sky Blues returned to the top of the table and Boro dropped to second place.

    Oxford United are without a win in their past four games, including three defeats, and are six points adrift of safety with 14 games remaining.

    • Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their past 11 league games against Oxford (W8 D3), with their last defeat against them coming in February 1990 (1-3) under Bruce Rioch.

    • Oxford have lost 11 of their 14 away league matches against Middlesbrough (W2 D1), scoring just nine goals across the 14 matches (0.6 per game).

    • Middlesbrough have won their past three home league matches without conceding a goal – they last won and kept a clean sheet in four straight league games at the Riverside between April and September 2018 (5), under Tony Pulis.

    • Only Sheffield Wednesday (1) have scored fewer Championship goals in 2026 than Oxford (4). However, all four of those have been netted in away games, only failing to score in one of their four matches on the road since the turn of the year.

    • Middlesbrough are the only side yet to drop a point from a winning position in the Championship this season, going on to win all 18 games when taking the lead.

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