Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder was delighted to banish the demons from Tuesday’s loss to Cardiff but admitted his side were pissed off during the 0-0 draw with Rotherham.
After conceding three goals in the first half of a 3-2 loss to the Bluebirds, Boro held off the Millers but couldn’t break the deadlock himself and head into the break. international in the relegation zone of the Sky Bet Championship.
“I’m fine. It’s a showdown right now,” the Boro boss said. “It’s not smooth, it’s a bit tough right now but we just have to dig in.
“I thought the attitude of the players was good and I didn’t think it was a negative performance, I thought it was an angry performance. It wasn’t smooth.
“We’ll look into it and maybe we’ll have created the best chance in the game, but we didn’t take it so we have to look into it.”
Speaking of the loss to Cardiff, he continued: “After 40 minutes on Tuesday of scratching your head about where you’re going to get a clean sheet, we managed to do it – and that’s a positive.
“The sun doesn’t always shine and it’s not always an easy game. You take that extra split second, you don’t play that pass for the first time, and you get an extra touch, which slows down the game.
“We have watched them (Rotherham) and they are not in a false position. They are a hard working team and maybe one of the last teams you would want to face tonight.
“Facing a team without any characters tonight might have been a bit easier for us, but it was a tough night. We knew it would be.
Two weeks out from domestic action, Wilder vowed his side could turn things around, adding: “We’re 10 games away (in the season), we don’t have the total points we want but we just have to keep going and get through this little tough time we’re in.
Rotherham manager Paul Warne walked away from Riverside the happier of the two managers after an uneventful game on Teesside.
He said: “I thought we limited them to very few full chances and it was a tiring game. I thought both groups of players looked exhausted at the end.
“In the first half there was a real rhythm of play and the ball hardly went out of play but in the second half, as a spectacle and as a game, I thought it was extinguished. That’s what I felt on the side of the pitch.
“In games like this sometimes you get lucky and you can cut a free kick and take the three points. However, you can admit that all that effort is worth nothing, so overall I’m the happiest of the managers because they certainly created more good play in the final third than us.
Rotherham currently sit outside the play-offs in eighth place, but Warne isn’t getting carried away, adding: “We’re still as good as we’ve been and maybe a few times we’ve been lucky.
“We are only four points from the bottom three. You don’t feel like you’re flying. I feel like we are doing very well at the moment and we are very lucky with injuries. »
