THEY dressed like Leeds United, but Middlesbrough are still some distance short of matching their promotion rivals’ undoubted attacking flair.

In a new all-white third kit disconcertingly similar to the home colours of the Elland Road side – the clubs even share the same online casino as their shirt sponsor – Boro missed a glorious opportunity to overhaul the faltering Yorkshiremen at the top of the Championship as West Bromwich Albion took advantage of draws for both to move somewhat ominously to the summit.

Leeds may have registered a Championship season high 25 shots on goal at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, but the outcome remained the same as it was at the KCOM Stadium – a frustrating 1-1 draw accompanied by a plethora of ‘what ifs?’ Middlesbrough are building their efforts to return to the Premier League on very different foundations to those being built by Marcelo Bielsa, and their strength clearly rests elsewhere as a record of 12 goals scored but only four shipped suggests.

After Britt Assombalonga’s fourth goal of the season gave them the lead early in the second-half, it looked more than likely that Boro’s trusty defence would see them through to a latest victory against distinctly limited opponents who have won just once in seven games to sit uncomfortably close to the relegation zone.

That was until Daniel Ayala fell foul of a neat piece of kidology from Chris Martin – the Scotland forward not the Coldplay frontman – and from that point it didn’t take a Scientist to identify Boro’s Achilles heel as they huffed and puffed in vain to get their noses in front a second time.

In mitigation, it took a stunning late save from Hull’s David Marshall to keep out Jonny Howson’s firm downward header from a cross by Stewart Downing – who was thrown on in a late, attacking triple substitution in a laudable effort to secure all three points.

But as solid as Boro look at the back, their general inability to embellish leads can leave them open to risk when protecting a single-goal advantage. So it proved as Martin, who had given as good as he had got in a physical battle with Aden Flint all afternoon, turned his attention to Ayala, barging his way into the bemused Spaniard and going to ground in such a way as to leave referee Darren England with little alternative but to point to the spot.

Kamil Grosicki did his best to aid Boro’s cause after Jarrod Bowen had placed the ball on the spot as the Hull forward was forced to brush-off the unwanted attentions of his team-mate: “he was in my ear saying ‘please let me take it’” to score a third goal in four games by sending Darren Randolph the wrong way.

Middlesbrough – who will host Pulis’ former side Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup later this month following the weekend’s draw – had taken the lead with the contest’s first shot on target, which arrived after 51 minutes with a forgettable first-half already having faded from the collective memory.

Hull unsuccessfully appealed for offside after switching off as Howson swung in a cross from the right which allowed the unmarked Assombalonga to sweep the ball home from close range. Had the forward not struck an equally presentable chance soon after straight at Marshall, Ayala’s momentary lapse would not have proved so costly.

They were also aggrieved that the penalty count wasn’t evened-up when Martin Braithwaite went to ground in similar circumstances to Martin. Ryan Shotton felt there should have been retribution from 12 yards, and he insisted: “Martin’s trying to turn him and he’s a very sharp player. Maybe he was a bit too sharp for their defender and it looked like he was holding him down at least.”

To his credit, the defender was still able to see the funny side, and he joked: “There’s not a lot of difference between their penalty and that decision. The ref’s got tough decisions to make, hasn’t he? If he wanted a 1-1 draw on his coupon then that’s what he’s going to go for!”

It was perhaps more a penalty that would be awarded at the Riverside rather than on enemy soil, and Pulis refused to be overly downcast at the frittering of two potentially pivotal points as his side prepare for Tuesday’s trip to another of the division’s struggling sides, Ipswich Town.

“We just needed to be more clinical,” he admitted, in what is becoming a regular refrain. The manager attempted to address his side’s lack of goals by pairing Assombalonga up top with Jordan Hugill for the first time, and he added: “I just wanted to have a look at two of them together up there. Britt took his goal well and we have plenty of options in that area of the pitch.”