TONY PULIS admits he is “concerned” at Middlesbrough’s current run of form, which is the worst of his Riverside tenure.

Saturday afternoon’s 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa means Boro have suffered three Championship defeats on the trot for the first time since March 2013, and picked up just one point from their last four matches.

They remain in the play-off positions, but whereas they have spent most of the season targeting the top two, they now find themselves 16 points adrift of automatic promotion spots.

They are only one point clear of seventh-placed Preston, and as he prepares to head into a two-week international break, Pulis admits his side’s plummeting form is a worry.

“Are the three defeats a concern? Yes. You don’t want to lose and it’s the first time it’s happened (under Pulis) at this football club,” said the Boro boss. “You don’t want it to happen.

“I still don't think we deserved to lose the Brentford game or certainly not the game against Preston. Those two results were really, really poor results for us. But today, we weren't better than them, they were better than us.”

Boro were second best from the outset at Villa Park, and the hosts took full advantage with Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn both scoring in the first half.

Albert Adomah confirmed Villa’s success by scoring a third goal with one minute left, and Pulis admitted his side had been unable to shrug off the disappointment of their midweek setback against Preston.

“It’s been a difficult week after Wednesday night,” he said. “Coming in Thursday, it was a real downer looking at them. And it's been there for a couple of days and you just hope they will get over that.

“I thought the first 20 minutes we looked really slow and sluggish, we didn't look anywhere near what we can be.

“They were flat after Wednesday, I think everybody was flat in respect of the result and the way it went.

“Getting Dani (Ayala) – he was the third player we've had (a card) rescinded out of four – so that doesn't help.

“Having said that, Villa are a good side, they've got some good players and they've got the momentum at the moment.”

Pulis also conceded that his side had contributed to their own downfall with some uncharacteristically poor defending.

Boro’s defenders were caught out of position for both of Villa’s opening two goals, and Darren Randolph made a mess of dealing with Jonathan Kodjia’s late shot, enabling Adomah to tap home from close range.

“We've given away three shocking goals,” said Pulis. “They've had five shots on target and scored three goals, which is a great ratio for them, but the goals that we've conceded have been really, really poor and very, very unlike us.”