STEVE AGNEW has admitted he got the balance of Middlesbrough’s team wrong as his side crashed to a 4-2 defeat at Hull City that has dealt a potentially fatal blow to their hopes of avoiding relegation.

The Teessiders conceded four goals in a game for the first time all season as Agnew’s switch to a 4-4-2 formation with Rudy Gestede playing alongside Alvaro Negredo backfired at the KCOM Stadium.

Having led through Negredo’s early opener, Boro conceded three goals in the space of 20 first-half minutes as their defence was repeatedly exposed, and while Marten de Roon briefly threatened to spark a comeback with a goal on the stroke of half-time, the visitors were never able to get back into the game.

The defeat leaves Agnew’s side seven points adrift of safety with eight games remaining, and while they continue to have a game in hand on Swansea and Hull, who occupy the two positions above them, it will now take a remarkable run of results for them to remain in the top-flight.

Agnew accepts he was taking a “calculated risk” by ripping up the ‘safety-first’ template that was established by his predecessor, Aitor Karanka, and also acknowledges the balance was tipped too far in the other direction.

“It’s tough to take because that’s not like us, to concede goals like we did,” said Agnew. “Basically, I didn’t think we got the balance right. In trying to win a game, we became far too open.

“We need points, and we gave it a go. But the disappointment was that we were far too open. We found a way back into it just before half-time (when de Roon scored), but in the second half, while we were a little bit tighter, we were still not in the shape that we should play off.

“The risk has to be calculated, and we have to stay in games. We have to learn from tonight. We have to be a threat going forward, but we have to find the right balance. That balance has to be, ‘Can we score a goal’, but equally clean sheets can help you win games.”

The situation at the foot of the table looks dire, and while a win over Burnley on Saturday would rekindle a degree of optimism, Hull’s performance suggests they are going to continue picking up points between now and the end of the season.

Boro still have to face Sunderland and Bournemouth, but having gone 13 games without a league win in the wake of last night’s defeat, it is surely fanciful to imagine them suddenly claiming four or five wins from the games that remain.

“The situation is difficult now, but it’s a huge challenge,” said Agnew. “It’s not one that we can’t achieve. It’s a group of players who will fight to the very end. We have a game in hand on some teams, and a home game coming up on Saturday.

“After the game, it was silent, and you’d expect that. The players are bitterly disappointed, as we all are. But we have to stay with it. We have to dust ourselves down and prepare for Burnley.”

Having boasted one of the most reliable defences for the majority of the season, Boro committed a series of defensive errors as they crashed to defeat.

Ben Gibson was at fault for the opening two goals, replacement left-back James Husband was found wanting for Hull’s third, and Adlene Guedioura completely lost his marker as Harry Maguire headed home to complete the scoring.

Antonio Barragan found himself run ragged by the hugely impressive Kamil Grosicki, but Agnew felt it would be unfair to focus on the deficiencies of his side’s defence. Instead, he felt Boro’s inability to compete in the central area as the key factor in his defenders coming under sustained pressure.

“The goals were not just down to the defenders and the back four line,” he said. “We look at it a bit more deeply than that. The shape of the team in front of the back four line wasn’t what we would expect, so consequently when players are pulled out of position, there are too many spaces and we concede poor goals.”

Agnew will now switch his attention to Saturday’s game with Burnley, and is hoping Gaston Ramirez will be available to face the Clarets after he was forced to miss last night’s game because of an ankle injury.

“Gaston has a chance,” said Agnew. “He was close today so hopefully he will be close for the weekend.”