O'Neil returned to the side after a groin injury

Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O'Neil believes errors in games are costing the club points following Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest.

Chris Cohen's goal for the home side settled the game but O'Neil is adamant the only difference between the two sides is their levels of concentration.

"Nottingham Forest weren't a better side than us," he told BBC Tees.

"But they didn't make any mistakes that gifted us any chances, and that's the difference, the fine margins."

The former England Under-21 captain returned to the Boro side after a groin injury in order to strengthen the options for boss Gordon Strachan, in the Teessiders' third meeting with Billy Davies' East Midlanders this season.

Under-soil heating made the pitch playable, and despite the tricky conditions O'Neil believes he and his team-mates came through the game with some credit despite defeat.

"It felt a little bit better before the game, I knew I was going to play anyway because we're a little bit short, so there wasn't much point testing it, I was only testing to see how bad it was going to be and I just thought 'get on with it'.

"It was a decent display, in a tough game on a tricky pitch, against a decent side but as you can tell we're a bit disappointed."

O'Neil joined Boro from Portsmouth in August 2007 for £5m and has since made 92 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals.

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