How did the players fare in Middlesbrough's 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest?
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (3-4-3):
Pantilimon 6; Milosevic 7, Wague 6, Robinson 6; Cash 8, Pele 6 (Yacob 84), Yates 6, Osborn 7; Lolley 8, Ansarifard 7 (Grabban 61, 6), CARVALHO 9 (Guedioura 88).
Subs (not used): Steele (gk), Janko, Appiah, Murphy.
MIDDLESBROUGH (3-5-2):
8 RANDOLPH: Let in three goals – but saved his team-mates’ blushes with three superb saves in the second half
3 McNair: Had looked comfortable at centre-half on Friday, but suffered a much more chastening afternoon here
4 Flint: Tried to hold things together, but wasn’t able to stem the flow of Forest attacks in the second half
3 Shotton: A wretched afternoon that was littered with errors – might well have been sent off as he conceded the penalty
3 Howson: Couldn’t cope with Carvalho’s technical ability and trickery and will not have suffered many more uncomfortable matches
4 Clayton: Wasn’t able to plug the gaps at the base of Boro’s midfield and was completely overrun in the second period
4 Mikel: Hasn’t been able to sustain the form he was displaying at the start of his Boro career and was bypassed far too often
4 Besic: Fired a tame first-half effort over the crossbar and failed to reappear for the second half
4 Saville: Has done reasonably well when asked to play at wing-back, but this was a day when his limitations in the role were exposed
5 Fletcher: Didn’t make an impact before he was hauled off at the break – but was left completely isolated for most of the first half
4 Assombalonga: Won’t have enjoyed his return to the City Ground as he was marked out of the game
Subs:
4 Hugill (for Fletcher, 46): Didn’t get a proper shot away when Boro finally created a half-chance at the start of the second half
5 Tavernier (for Besic, 46): Wasn’t able to alter the course of the game, even though he added a bit of midfield thrust
4 Downing (for Saville, 66): The game was up by the time he came on – has to have a chance of starting against Reading
(not used): Konstantopoulos (gk), Wood, Spence, Gestede.
Man Of The Match: JOAO CARVALHO – Forest’s Portuguese midfielder displayed the kind of invention and creativity that was completely lacking from the Middlesbrough ranks.
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