Sheffield Wednesday 2 Middlesbrough 0

IN an ever changing world there are still some things which you can depend on. In this instance, it’s that Middlesbrough always struggle at Sheffield Wednesday.

Hillsborough has certainly not been a happy hunting ground for Boro. They’ve lost five of their last six and haven’t kept a clean sheet there for 20 years so while Saturday’s defeat saw another opportunity missed it wasn’t completely unexpected.

With 12 games left and the standings at the top of the Championship tighter than ever, Derby’s defeat to Fulham presented Aitor Karanka’s men with the chance to reclaim the lead.

But once again they let their Hillsborough hoodoo struck and another defeat gave some of the chasing pack an opportunity to claw back the gap which had opened up.

Too many players had off days while Karanka’s constant tinkering backfired for the first time.

In previous games the Boro head coach has gambled by making wholesale changes to his starting line-up. It worked at Blackpool but on this occasion it didn’t and the Spaniard accepted as much.

There are still plenty of games left for the Teessiders to secure their return to the Premier League but time will only tell how costly Saturday’s mistakes will be.

The decision to leave out captain Grant Leadbitter seemed odd, while giving James Husband only his second league start ahead of the consistent George Friend also raised eyebrows.

The state of the pitch at Hillsborough clearly shaped Karanka’s game plan but playing it long didn’t suit a team that’s success has been built around playing passing football.

The team didn’t look comfortable and knowing they were out of their comfort zone seemed to give the Owls a psychological advantage, despite the fact they hadn’t recorded a home win since Boxing Day.

Against Leeds last weekend Boro didn’t get anything from a game they deserved to and in midweek they claimed three points in one of their poorest performances of the season.

At Hillsborough they didn’t play well again but this time they got what they deserved.

“It was a bad performance,” admitted Ben Gibson. “It’s not a good place to come but that’s no excuse. We were poor and we have to look at ourselves.

“We weren’t good enough. We’ve got to demand a lot more of each other and if we want to get out this league we’re not going to do it playing like that. “We’ve got to move on quickly. That’s what we do when we win and that’s what we’ll do when we lose.”

Given the fact these two boast the best defences in the Championship it wasn’t surprising that chances were at a premium in the first half.

Will Keane nodded over Dimi Konstantopoulos’ bar, while at the other end Adam Forshaw’s looping effort landed the wrong side of Keiren Westwood’s post.

When these two met at the Riverside back in August, Atdhe Nuhiu was the thorn in Boro’s side and he made it three goals in two games against the Teessiders seven minutes after the break.

Kenneth Omeruo left his arms up when a high ball came towards him in the area and referee Stephen Martin pointed to the spot without hesitation.

Two minutes after going behind they conceded again. Nuhiu’s flick came back off the far post and Keane reacted quicker than anyone else to nod the ball past Konstantopoulos.

Karanka introduced Leadbitter and Tomlin shortly after, but a combination of poor finishing and superb defending kept the visitors at bay.

The Boro skipper was involved in an unsavoury incident after Boro were awarded a free-kick out on the right with suggestions Owls captain Jose Semedo spat in the midfielder’s face.

Gibson said: “Without making excuses I think the pitch dictated the way we had to play the game.

“We couldn’t pass it around like we normally would like to. We had to play a different type of game. We had to win second balls and battle.

“I thought we did it quite well in the first half. We stayed in the game and we were strong. In the second half we didn’t show enough character or mettle and we let them get on top of us.

“We’ve had a bad day and it’s important we don’t get too down about it. We’ve had a good season and we need to have a good end to it. We’ve had a bad day but we’ll look to Tuesday and that’s a massive chance to get three points.”