Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate delivers passionate response after Sheffield Wednesday hammering

Boro found themselves two goals down inside seven minutes and fell 4-1 behind before half-time at the Riverside.

An own goal from Boro’s Adam Clayton opened the scoring before Dominic Iorfa, Adam Reach and Steven Fletcher put the game beyond Boro’s grasp.

The Teessiders struggled to deal with Wednesday’s towering frontman, Fletcher and Atdne Nuhiu, and Woodgate admitted Boro’s defending wasn’t good enough.

“I played a few games at centre-half, as you know, and you pride yourself by winning aerial battles, no matter who you are up against,” said the Boro boss.

“I played against a lot of different players who are big units but you find a way to beat them in the air, getting yourself in the right position, it’s about determination, who wants it more. We didn’t want it enough in that first half.”

“It was sloppy, I’m not going to sit up here and say it was good, it was terrible, it wasn’t good enough.”

It’s a quick turnaround for Boro, who dropped to 18th in the Championship, and Woodgate has called for a reaction ahead of the Preston clash.

“I’m from this area and know what it’s like to play for this club and everything I’ve done in my career is through hard work and determination,” added Woodgate.

“I’m from Middlesbrough and that’s what people are like from Middlesbrough, we need more of that in our changing room, to know what it’s like to play for this club.

“This is a really good club and it’s driven through hard work and determination and that in the first half wasn’t good enough, didn’t have that hard work and determination and that’s what the disappointing thing was.”

“I thought second half we had the two chances from Britt and should have made it 4-3 and then it’s a totally different ball game. We move on to Tuesday night.”