Tees

Middlesbrough captain Hayden Hackney says they need to be sharper and "almost force the ball in" to avoid dropping further points in their bid for automatic promotion.

Boro are without a win in their past three Championship games following the defeat at Coventry and back-to-back home draws against Oxford and Leicester, having won six on the bounce before this recent mini blip.

Tuesday night's 1-1 draw with the Foxes was the second time in four days Kim Hellberg's side have failed to beat a side in the relegation zone at the Riverside.

It means Boro now sit two points behind leaders Coventry, who visit Sheffield United on Wednesday, while third-placed Ipswich are six points behind but have two games in hand.

"That's the word, frustration," Hackney told BBC Radio Tees.

"Maybe [we need] something falling for us inside the box, getting that half a yard to finish. Maybe [opposition teams] are sitting off a little bit more, a little bit deeper in the low block.

"But I think it's just our sharpness and maybe what's fallen for us in the last couple of games where the run into the box would be found by the assist.

"I know it sounds easy but maybe that - and having shots and deflections maybe fall your way."

The 23-year-old midfielder does not think Middlesbrough are in a "sticky spot" and says it is "definitely not a lack of effort from the lads".

"They're all giving 100%," he added. "I think it's just touching up on those areas in the final third, which we will do. We'll look back at that and try and improve."

Kim Hellberg remained defiant after his Middlesbrough side again dropped points against a team battling relegation.

Boro have played out two draws since Coventry regained top spot in the Championship by beating them.

Having played out a goalless draw with Oxford United at the weekend, they drew 1-1 with Leicester at the Riverside Stadium.

A win would have taken them level on points with Coventry, but they are six clear of third-placed Ipswich and Hull in fourth, so remain very much on course for promotion.

Head coach Hellberg 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.

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."

Image 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.