TONY Mowbray admits his faltering Middlesbrough side have failed to take advantage of their promotion rivals' failings in the top half of the Championship table.

Boro ground out a goalless draw with relegation-threatened Peterborough last night, a result that means they have still claimed just two league victories since the turn of the year.

However, with Brighton also drawing 0-0 with Charlton, the Teessiders remain just six points off the play-off zone with six games to play.

Somehow, they continue to feature in the battle for the top six, although Mowbray concedes they have passed up a series of opportunities to force themselves into the heart of the promotion mix.

“It's almost as if the league is waiting for us to kick-start again,” said the Boro boss, who watched his side fail to break down a resolute Peterborough defence despite dominating possession for large periods of a largely low-key encounter. “Nobody is winning.

“I try to analyse the league, and all these teams that started off so well, like we did, seem to be suffering from a role reversal. Every team at the bottom seems to be picking up points, while nobody at the top seems to be able to pull away.

“It's amazing to think Leicester have gone 12 games with only one win and Crystal Palace have lost their last three – the teams at the top are finding it tough.

“It's there for us, they all seem to be waiting for us to kick back into life, but that's why it was so important to get three points here. If nobody else is going to win, let's start doing it ourselves.

“Unfortunately, we didn't get that one break or that one thing running for us in the box. We needed somebody to smash it in, but it didn't happen.”

Boro have now gone five games without a victory, and will surely have to win at promotion rivals Hull on Saturday to maintain even the remotest hope of keeping their play-off hopes alive.

Mowbray claims there were positives from last night's display to take into the weekend encounter, most notably the accomplished display produced by Rhys Williams at centre-half and the attacking prowess of Sammy Ameobi.

“It's frustrating because I thought we did more than enough to win the game,” he said. “We didn't score, but we kept a clean sheet and that was important.

“I thought Rhys came back and was showing some signs that he's finding a bit of form. Him and Andre (Bikey) did well at the back. I thought Sammy was good in the position behind the striker, and (Mustapha) Carayol came off the bench and had an impact.

“So there were some positives, but we didn't get the result we needed. We probably deserved it, but we didn't get it.”

Boro were forced into the latest in a series of defensive reshuffles when George Friend suffered a hamstring strain that resulted in his withdrawal before the break.

The injury is likely to keep the full-back out of the majority of the remainder of the season, and Mowbray admits a succession of defensive setbacks have taken their toll.

“It's obviously not ideal, and this season has witnessed a number of frustrations with injuries, particularly in the defence,” he said. “George has had a couple of hamstring problems, and both right-backs (Justin Hoyte and Stuart Parnaby) have been missing at various stages of the season.

“Jonathan (Woodgate) isn't really able to play in every game so we haven't really had any consistency there. The goals against column probably reflects that, even though we've been able to keep a clean sheet here.”

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