JONATHAN WOODGATE has spent the last two days nursing a strong sense of hurt, but the Middlesbrough head coach is confident his players will alter his mood when they return to action against Preston tonight.

Woodgate suffered the heaviest defeat of his fledgling managerial career when Boro were trounced 4-1 by Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, with the concession of four goals in the opening 35 minutes compounding the sense of shock at such a heavy defeat.

The Boro head coach pulled no punches as he criticised his players in the wake of the game, describing their defending as “terrible” and accusing them of a lack of desire, and while he has sought to draw a line under the defeat in order to concentrate on tonight’s challenge, the pain of suffering such a rout on home soil has not subsided.

Despite having made more than 300 senior appearances as a player, Woodgate has never really got used to the experience of losing, and having challenged his players to make amends, he is looking forward to witnessing their response tonight.

“When I was a player, I got beat 4-1, and I hated it,” said Woodgate. “I hated losing 1-0. No one likes losing. I don’t know a person that likes losing, it hurts. Does it mean as much to players now? I’d like to think so. When I was a player, I used to go home after losing and wouldn’t talk to anyone.

“Last year, when I was a coach, my missus wouldn’t even have to look at the results, she could just tell what had happened by the tone of my voice on the telephone. She could tell from that. ‘Oh, so you’ve lost?’ ‘Well, what do you think?’ That’s what it’s like.

“I hate losing, but I think having that attitude is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sportsman and if you’ve won, I’ve got no problem with that. I’ll speak to you after and shake your hand, but deep down, I’m hurting inside. It kills you, but you have to learn lessons.”

The last couple of days have provided one of the biggest challenges of Woodgate’s managerial tenure so far, and the Teessider readily admits he has sought to balance the desire to issue some harsh home truths with the need to move on.

He has taken inspiration from some of the bosses he worked under – most notably Sir Bobby Robson and Harry Redknapp – and attempted to avoid some of the practices he did not appreciate when he was a player.

“Different managers used to handle it in different ways,” he said. “Certain managers wouldn’t speak to you for a few days, but the likes of Bobby Robson would have a meeting the next day and then after that, it would be forgotten about.

“Harry Redknapp would have it out with you, and then the next day it would be forgotten about and you’d get on with training. I think that’s the right way to be. You can’t hold grudges against these lads, I’m not going to start doing that. I’m a manager so I need to run them. You’ve got to pick your players back up, you can’t just be constantly hammering and hammering them.”

As well as assessing his players’ mental state, Woodgate has also spent the last 48 hours pondering some tactical tweaks in an attempt to ensure there is no repeat of Saturday’s defensive disintegration.

Daniel Ayala, a second-half substitute against Sheffield Wednesday, is likely to return to the starting line-up, while Jonny Howson could also return at right-back. Alternatively, Woodgate could go with three centre-halves in an attempt to shore things up.

The 39-year-old is determined to stick to the attacking principles he espoused at the start of the summer, but as a former central defender, he accepts there is a need to be flexible when it comes to tinkering with tactics.

“It’s about adapting to certain situations,” he said. “You have your belief in how you want to play, but you still have to adapt to situations. The most important thing is winning football matches, and at the moment, we haven't won in two, that's the thing.

“We went on a run of being unbeaten in four before that, so you tweak things like we did against Reading, when we had our backs against the wall. It doesn't happen overnight, what you want, so sometimes you've got to be clever and adapt to the situation you are in.”

Tonight’s game pits Boro against a Preston side that are unbeaten in their last six Championship matches, and that sit just two points off the top of the table in the wake of their weekend draw with Bristol City. Their manager, Alex Neil, knows all about getting one over on Boro, having masterminded Norwich City’s win at Wembley in the 2015 play-off final.

“They’ve scored 17 goals, so they’re top when it comes to that,” said Woodgate. “They haven’t been beaten since August in the league, they’ve got a really good manager, and a very good chairman in Peter Ridsdale, who I know really well. They’ll be a tough test.”

Middlesbrough (possible, 4-1-4-1): Randolph; Howson, Fry, Ayala, Shotton; Clayton; Johnson, Wing, McNair, Fletcher; Assombalonga.