MIDDLESBROUGH 1 BLACKPOOL 1

SO much for strolling to promotion then. If Saturday’s shut-out at Charlton served as something of a reality check after three successive league wins, last night’s 1-1 draw with a Blackpool side still rooted to the foot of the Championship provided further proof that Middlesbrough are far from the finished article.

Laboured in their general approach and wasteful in possession, Boro toiled throughout and might well have suffered a third home defeat in the last four matches had their former striker, Ishmael Miller, not wasted two decent late chances to add to his scrambled first-half goal.

Miller’s close-range strike cancelled out Daniel Ayala’s headed opener, and while Blackpool might have started pre-season with just eight contracted players, they created better openings than a Boro side who continue to exhibit a damagingly inconsistent streak.

Seven days earlier, they had been lording it up against Liverpool, but this was a reversion to the form that resulted in August’s back-to-back home defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Reading. Typical Boro? The only thing predictable about the Teessiders at the moment, is that you don’t really know what you’re going to get.

Too many players had an off day last night, with Patrick Bamford looking nothing like the striker who came off the bench to run riot at Anfield, Lee Tomlin conceding possession on far too regular a basis and Emmanuel Ledesma fading markedly after a bright start.

Given that Blackpool arrived at the Riverside with only one away win to their name since last November, most neutral observers would have been anticipating a routine home win given Boro’s impressive recent form. With the Teessiders, however, things are rarely that simple.

Things were going to plan in the early stages, with Grant Leadbitter enjoying a surfeit of space in the central areas while Ledesma and Adam Reach scurried forward to provide support from the flanks.

Ledesma went close with a fierce second-minute drive that was parried by Joe Lewis, and while Boro’s superiority was not reflected in a flurry of early chances, there was still a sense of inevitability about the hosts’ 19th-minute opener.

It was a somewhat scrappy goal, with the Blackpool defence failing to clear Leadbitter’s free-kick, Ledesma’s header back into the area flicking off a defender’s head, and Ayala reacting quickest to loop a header of his own over a stranded Lewis.

The goal should have provided a platform for Boro to dominate, but instead it proved the precursor to a sloppy 15-minute spell that saw the Teessiders concede an equaliser and almost succumb to a second goal that would have trebled Blackpool’s goalscoring tally on their travels this season.

The leveller owed much to a fantastic cross from left-back Joan Oriol, whose whipped delivery forced Boro’s defenders to turn towards their own goal.

James Husband was caught marginally flat-footed, and displaying a sprightliness that was rarely apparent in his 30 appearances as a Boro player in the 2012-13 season, Miller inched ahead of his marker inside the six-yard box.

It initially appeared as though the decisive final touch had come off Husband, but like all good strikers – and some not quite so good ones – Miller wheeled away celebrating his first goal of the season.

Husband’s replacement of George Friend was one of five changes to the side that drew at Charlton last weekend, and for all that Aitor Karanka is clearly keen to rotate his squad wherever possible in order to prevent burnout, a lack of cohesion surely played a part in last night’s struggles.

Boro’s back four was surprisingly shaky for most of the game, and Blackpool twice went close to claiming the lead before the interval.

Dimi Konstantopoulos displayed impressive agility to claw away a long-range Andrea Orlandi strike that deflected off Ben Gibson and looped towards goal, but even the Greek goalkeeper was powerless to prevent David Perkins’ brilliant curled effort from beating him in the 39th minute. Fortunately, from a Boro perspective, the shot rebounded to safety off the right-hand post.

The interval came at a good time for the Teessiders, and there was a notable increase in tempo and urgency from the moment the second half began.

Bamford came within inches of scoring at the back post after Reach flicked Leadbitter’s corner across the face of the goal, but there was still a marked lack of cohesion about much of Boro’s attacking play.

Reach’s thrusts down the left-hand flank continued to cause problems, but Kike, who replaced the injured Adam Clayton shortly before the half-hour mark, and Bamford rarely dovetailed in attack, while Tomlin suffered one of his more frustrating evenings with too many attempted through balls finding a shirt with an orange sash.

On the rare occasions a Boro player did threaten to break through, they found a Blackpool defender willing to throw their body in their way to stop them, and for all the chaos that has engulfed Bloomfield Road in the last year or so, the attitude of Jose Riga’s players is extremely commendable. They might still be searching for a first victory, but there is certainly no lack of spirit in the camp.

Tony McMahon, returning to the Riverside after eight years of solid service, was his usual committed self, while Donervon Daniels produced a fantastic last-ditch challenge midway through the second half to prevent Bamford latching on to Tomlin’s flick on.

Tomlin fired in a 73rd-minute strike that was gathered by Lewis, but while Blackpool were forced to adopt an increasingly defensive mindset in the closing stages, the visitors served notice of their continued threat when Miller headed McMahon’s teasing cross past the post and then only narrowly failed to connect with another inviting delivery from the opposite flank.