JONNY HOWSON believes that Middlesbrough are creating enough chances to get the goals they will need to stay in the thick of the Championship promotion race.

Tony Pulis’ side missed the chance to end Saturday night as leaders of the division as they had to settle for a 0-0 draw at his former club Stoke.

Boro had to defend solidly against opponents who had the majority of the possession, yet the visitors had the best chances to win the game, with Stewart Downing, Jordan Hugill and Howson all denied by England goalkeeper Jack Butland.

The result means that Pulis’ team are two points off the top of the table, despite the fact that they are the division’s sixth-lowest scorers, with 17 league goals.

Midfielder Howson, though, feels that the goals will come, saying: “We had some chances at Stoke and missed them. I missed one myself that clipped the keeper’s legs.

“As a team, we have been creating chances and missing them. Sometimes you have runs like that. May it is like the Derby game when it took an own goal.

“But we’ll get working and keep creating the chances. Sooner or later, we’ll get the breaks and they’ll start to go in.

“An own goal, a freak deflection, we’ll take it. But the time to worry is when you are not getting the chances.”

A solid defence has played a large part in Boro’s high position - no team in the Championship has conceded fewer goals this season.

Their back-line was impressive once again at the Bet365 Stadium, even without the suspended Daniel Ayala, with Danny Batth outstanding.

Pulis has built a team that looks ready to dig in this winter to stay among the front-runners, and Howson thinks that kind of work ethic will be crucial to maintaining a challenge in such a tight division – just as it was in getting a point at Stoke.

He said: “In this league, that is the first thing you need to do. Sometimes you have to do it for 10 minutes, sometimes you have to do it for the whole game.

“It was one of those games. Possibly with the chances we had, maybe we could have won it but we had to dig in at times too. On balance I think you have to say it is a good point.

“Stoke are a good side but we did a good job against them. They had a lot of possession but I don’t really think they had a serious sight of goal. That’s down to the way we played.

“We like to be solid, be hard to break down and not giving the opposition too many chances.

“We work very hard, we’re organised and we don’t give much away and then we look to get something on the counter-attack, certainly away from home.

“On another night we could possibly have won it with the chances in the second half. If we can’t win, then the next best thing is a 0-0 draw for us.”