TONY PULIS wants the Football League to look at the number of times teams need to play midweek matches after claiming the quality of football takes a hit in the Championship because of the number of games.

Pulis was speaking after watching his side move level on points with leaders Leeds United by recording a goalless draw at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

It was a largely uneventful game against a decent Swansea side and, while satisfied with not losing and another clean sheet, Pulis felt the standard of football can be affected because of the demands placed on players at that level.

The Middlesbrough manager had already bemoaned the fact Swansea had had an extra 24 hours to recover from their Tuesday game than his players before Saturday’s meeting, referring to how his players beat Bolton on Wednesday.

But Pulis thinks the sheer fact that Championship clubs have to play eight more games than their Premier League counterparts is not right.

“Where we as brightly and sparkly as we have been? I am not sure,” said Pulis. “I was last in the Championship working 11 years ago, you look at it now and there are more quality players, playing in better stadiums, the pitches are better, the quality is better, and there are better players who are playing international football.

“And yet we are asked to play eight more games than the Premier League, there’s more Premier League players playing international football but there are plenty now playing in the Championship, someone has to look at it.

“To ask players to play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday … you look at the top teams at this level, who have the internationals too, and looking at some of the results around, you ask their managers if there’s a little tiredness in there.

“This league has pushed on, it is better in every way shape or form, but to ask them to play eight games extra, it’s a lot of games compared to the Premier League.

“This is the period, the next six to eight weeks where you have more games … we have played nine games already and the Premier League have played six, and we have another couple of midweek games. It’s forced in. It’s only my view.”

Middlesbrough still managed to keep a clean sheet, their seventh of the league campaign, to ensure they collected a point even if they couldn’t score the elusive goal that would have won it for them against Swansea.

Overall they were unable to put the finishing touch to one of the moves they made in the final third, although they didn’t test goalkeeper Erwin Mulder with enough chances at goal. The busiest he was in the second half was when he had to deal with dangerous Ryan Shotton crosses into his area.

Pulis said: “We have had the opportunities and chances again here, you need that spark in the final third to get what we needed. We had the chances in first half and second half, we needed a break.

“Swansea defended ever so well from set plays. When things do go our way in the final third we win games, but when they don’t … that’s where games are won and lost.

“Defensively they had one chance first half, they didn’t cause problems other than that. We needed a break, we needed the one that hit the bar off George Saville, that got blocked. It needed a goal, we played some good football.”

While Middlesbrough continue to pick up the points that keeps them in the Premier League promotion hunt, one of the players who left in the summer to play at that level has paid tribute to Pulis.

Adama Traore hit his best form under the former West Brom manager and earned a move to the top-flight after Wolves agreed to pay £18m for him – and the Spaniard has also thanked Olympic gold medal winner Darren Campbell for his support and advice.

“Darren, the British Olympic sprinter, was my sprint coach at Middlesbrough - yet the best advice he gave me was to slow down," Traore said. “That might sound strange but he said: ‘You have too much speed, you don’t always need to run at 100 per cent’.

“I was used to running flat out every time, but he told me, ‘You know how quick you are, slow down’. You might need that speed to go past players but when you cross, it is a disadvantage, you have to ease off.

“I worked hard at it in training and I found he was right and my crossing has improved a lot because of Darren’s coaching. The boys used to dare him to race me but he always had slight injuries so we didn’t actually race.

“But I have been clocked at 38kph before and he tells me that’s quick."

Pulis was the man who pinned his faith in Traore after he replaced Garry Monk in Decembe last year.  Traore said: "Tony Pulis was another great influence on me at Boro. He changed my outlook and taught me the importance of being able to defend as well as attack."