LEWIS WING has attempted to put on a united front at Middlesbrough by asking supporters not to “blame the strikers” after watching the goalscoring drought extend beyond four-and-a-half hours.

That stretch extends back to Daniel Ayala’s late equaliser – which still ended in defeat – at Birmingham City on October 4 and Boro have not won any of the three matches since.

In fact Middlesbrough are in the midst of a seven-match winless run that has seen them drop in to the Championship’s relegation zone for the first time since Tony Mowbray worked on turning things around after the Gordon Strachan era in Christmas 2010.

And their poor overall scoring record means that Wigan are the only team in the second tier to have scored fewer than Jonathan Woodgate’s team, which he had hoped to have playing exciting football hitting plenty goals.

The last three matches in particular have seen Middlesbrough create chances to improve on that record, but there has been no breakthrough.

Even though other players have wasted great chances too, the spotlight is more on the strikers given that in the absence of the injured Rudy Gestede there is a reliance on Ashley Fletcher and Britt Assombalonga to deliver.

But neither of the £22m pairing are playing with the sort of confidence required to find the net, with the only goal scored by either since August being the one the EFL’s dubious goals committee awarded Assombalonga against Preston.

There were times when the supporters’ frustrations increased against Fulham on Saturday, with groans and moans on a few times in the second half when the leading scorer lacked conviction in the penalty area.

Assombalonga had missed a free header in the first half and Fletcher failed to hit the target when he was played in by Marcus Tavernier. Despite the pair’s problems, and they were paired together in attack, Woodgate stuck with them in the hope of finding a breakthrough – although he didn’t really have alternatives.

Wing said: “I think they are confident because we see them day in and day out, scoring a lot of goals. They are two good strikers and I believe in them, the whole team believes in them. We have to keep getting behind them and make sure we help them put the chances in.

“It’s not the strikers’ fault. We are a team together, we stay together, I wouldn’t blame anyone. It is all of our fault - if there is a fault. Once the chances start to drop we will pick up points and climb the table.”

Middlesbrough have scored just 11 goals in their 14 league games and three of those arrived in the opening night draw at Luton Town in early August.

That is largely the reason why Woodgate’s men have now dropped into the bottom three – following improved Huddersfield’s win at home to Barnsley on Saturday – and concerns are growing in the stands that there will not be a significant turnaround.

Middlesbrough have not lost any of their last three matches against decent opposition and had chances been taken then they could easily have beaten leaders West Brom, in-form Huddersfield and now Fulham, who played for 73 minutes with ten men following goalkeeper Marek Radak’s red card.

Wing said: “I will take a lot of positives from those games. We will start to collect points, I’m sure. We have to trust what we are doing and trust what the gaffer wants us to do, the process.

“It’s hard to break teams down when they go down to ten men and it was against Fulham because they dropped deeper. We should have kept playing passes and made things more intense. We didn’t.

“Now we will go to Derby County on Saturday and try to put on another show. We will try to score goals and win games. That is all we can do and I’m sure things will turn for us.

“We know we have dropped down but we must work harder next week and prepare to win a game at Derby. I don’t think we have been playing badly. We are playing good football and we have to build on that because we will get the results.”

Pockets of Middlesbrough’s fans regularly vented their frustrations during and after Saturday’s goalless draw, with boos greeting the final whistle. There were also negative noises when the red shirts patiently played the ball from side to side, looking for a gap, with time running out to beat ten-man Fulham.

In the end, after watching Paddy McNair’s record a harmless first effort on target deep in stoppage-time, the victory required failed to materialise and Middlesbrough fell in to the Championship’s relegation zone.

“We have never really thought about it being hard to stay positive, we have to keep digging away, fighting for chances and get out of it. We need those chances to drop and they will,” said Wing.

“Scoring has been a problem, we know that. When you watch the games we have had we are creating chances, that is what it comes down to, putting them away. Once one goes in we will score a lot of games.

“We are frustrated, the fans are frustrated, we are trying to do right for us and it’s hard and disappointing. We are playing good football.

“The confidence is there. We are creating chances. One will drop soon and when it does we will go on another run and win games.

“It is still early on and it is not a nice place to be in the relegation zone, but we are positive we will get out of this rut and win games. We are confident.

“It is too early in the season to say we will be relegated. We are a good side. We have played three tough teams in the last three games and we should have got results out of all of them. We were a bit unlucky. It’s back to the drawing board and we go again.”

Wing has played in a deeper role in recent weeks but was still the best Middlesbrough performer against Fulham, even though his eye for a forward pass or shot is missing from the team’s play at times.

And he said: “We all believe in ourselves that we are a good side. We have shown recently but we need to make chances go in.

“I feel like the win will come, it’s coming, but there is a feeling we didn’t take that chance here against Fulham. We didn’t move the ball quick enough. We are all disappointed. We are still upbeat and have to trust the process.

“We have to move the ball quicker, we made it easier for them because they were sat in. We need to break teams down, create those chances.

“The chances have been there since the West Brom game, they aren’t dropping. We just need one to go in and that changes everything for us. I will play anywhere to help.

“The gaffer has put faith in me to play there and I have to keep going. I enjoy the role. I am just disappointed with the results.”

Defender Ryan Shotton suffered a knee injury against Huddersfield and missed Saturday’s draw. He is unlikely to be fit to face Derby and will be assessed again this week.

Middlesbrough have scored just 11 goals in their 14 league games and three of those arrived in the opening night draw at Luton Town in early August.

That is largely the reason why Woodgate’s men have now dropped into the bottom three – following improved Huddersfield’s win at home to Barnsley on Saturday – and concerns are growing in the stands that there will not be a significant turnaround.

Middlesbrough have not lost any of their last three matches against decent opposition and had chances been taken then they could easily have beaten leaders West Brom, in-form Huddersfield and now Fulham, who played for 73 minutes with ten men following goalkeeper Marek Radak’s red card.

Wing said: “I will take a lot of positives from those games. We will start to collect points, I’m sure. We have to trust what we are doing and trust what the gaffer wants us to do, the process.  “It’s hard to break teams down when they go down to ten men and it was against Fulham because they dropped deeper. We should have kept playing passes and made things more intense. We didn’t.

“Now we will go to Derby County on Saturday and try to put on another show. We will try to score goals and win games. That is all we can do and I’m sure things will turn for us.

“We know we have dropped down but we must work harder next week and prepare to win a game at Derby. I don’t think we have been playing badly. We are playing good football and we have to build on that because we will get the results.”

Pockets of Middlesbrough’s fans regularly vented their frustrations during and after Saturday’s goalless draw, with boos greeting the final whistle. There were also negative noises when the red shirts patiently played the ball from side to side, looking for a gap, with time running out to beat ten-man Fulham.

In the end, after watching Paddy McNair’s record a harmless first effort on target deep in stoppage-time, the victory required failed to materialise and Middlesbrough fell in to the Championship’s relegation zone.  “We have never really thought about it being hard to stay positive, we have to keep digging away, fighting for chances and get out of it. We need those chances to drop and they will,” said Wing.

“Scoring has been a problem, we know that. When you watch the games we have had we are creating chances, that is what it comes down to, putting them away. Once one goes in we will score a lot of games.

“We are frustrated, the fans are frustrated, we are trying to do right for us and it’s hard and disappointing. We are playing good football.

“The confidence is there. We are creating chances. One will drop soon and when it does we will go on another run and win games.

“It is still early on and it is not a nice place to be in the relegation zone, but we are positive we will get out of this rut and win games. We are confident.  “It is too early in the season to say we will be relegated. We are a good side. We have played three tough teams in the last three games and we should have got results out of all of them. We were a bit unlucky. It’s back to the drawing board and we go again.”

Wing has played in a deeper role in recent weeks but was still the best Middlesbrough performer against Fulham, even though his eye for a forward pass or shot is missing from the team’s play at times.

He said: “We all believe in ourselves that we are a good side. We have shown recently but we need to make chances go in.

“I feel like the win will come, it’s coming, but there is a feeling we didn’t take that chance here against Fulham. We didn’t move the ball quick enough. We are all disappointed. We are still upbeat and have to trust the process.

“We have to move the ball quicker, we made it easier for them because they were sat in. We need to break teams down, create those chances.

“The chances have been there since the West Brom game, they aren’t dropping. We just need one to go in and that changes everything for us. I will play anywhere to help.  “The gaffer has put faith in me to play there and I have to keep going. I enjoy the role. I am just disappointed with the results.”

Middlesbrough defender Ryan Shotton suffered a knee injury against Huddersfield and missed Saturday’s draw. He is unlikely to be fit to face Derby and will be assessed again this week.