DOUGIE FREEDMAN has tipped Middlesbrough to win the Championship promotion race despite Nottingham Forest stopping the Teessiders in their tracks at the City Ground.

Forest came from a goal behind to claim three points against Boro which saw Aitor Karanka’s team drop down to fourth having started the weekend’s round of fixtures inn top spot.

But with Bournemouth, Derby, Watford and Middlesbrough all level on points, Freedman is convinced that Middlesbrough have the greater strength to win the title come May.

The Forest boss said: “I am delighted with the super-human effort the players showed and I’m delighted with the response they showed to falling behind against the best team in the league, the strongest squad in the league and one that will probably go on to win the title.”

Middlesbrough edged ahead when Grant Leadbitter’s cross to the back post hit the woodwork and then Michael Mancienne’s back before dropping over the line in the 27th minute.

But Forest hit back seven minutes later when Gary Gardner was allowed the space to fire in a lovely shot from 22 yards in to Dimi Konstantopoulos’ top left corner.

Middlesbrough dominated possession in the second half but were unable to seriously test the visitors’ goalkeeper Karl Darlow. Then Michail Antonio teed up Dexter Blackstock to power in the winner 25 minutes before the end.

Karanka, who is assessing the fitness of Ryan Fredericks after he was forced off with a hamstring problem, said: “This was a game where you are left to go home feeling a sense of disappointment, because it is difficult to understand the performance.

“When you have spent many hours on the training ground preparing for the game, when you explain to the players everything that will happen - and then it does happen - it is difficult.

“We knew this was the way the game would be played. But they scored the goals exactly how they normally do and exactly how we had prepared the players for.

“We have one week now to think about this game and what has happened. We have to learn from it.

“We did not play well, we did not do the things that we said we had to do and we lost. This season will go right to the end, it will be close. But we have to be intelligent and we have to learn from this.”