How did the players fare in Middlesbrough's 3-0 home defeat to Rotherham?
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3):
4 Bettinelli: Saved from Smith on the stroke of half-time, but seemed to panic when he fouled Ihiekwe to concede the penalty
4 Spence: Might be better than Dijksteel going forward – but doesn’t have the same defensive capabilities as the player he was asked to replace
5 Wood: Made a decent fist of trying to stand in for the injured Fry, but is some years behind him in terms of his development
4 McNair: A rare off day for the Boro defender, who was undone by the physical pressure applied by Rotherham’s strikers
6 Bola: One of his side’s better performers as he kept on trying to get forward down the left-hand side
4 Morsy: Wasn’t able to exert any authority over proceedings, and wasted a great chance by shooting straight at Blackman
5 Howson: Wasn’t up to his usual standards, as exemplified by the dreadful first-half back-pass that almost resulted in a goal
4 Saville: Couldn’t make an impact in the final third and struggled to deal with Rotherham’s counter-attacking
4 Roberts: Was handed a rare opportunity to impress, but failed to threaten on his first league start since November
5 Assombalonga: Wasn’t really a factor all evening as he failed to shake off the attentions of the Rotherham defence
6 WATMORE: It wasn’t really his night, but he was still Boro’s brightest spark as he tried to break into the penalty area
Subs:
5 Coulson (for Spence, 69): Wasn’t able to make a difference in the closing stages of the game
5 Wing (for Roberts, 69): Didn’t make Boro any more threatening during his time on the field
4 Akpom (for Assombalonga, 69): Barely had a touch as his team-mates struggled to provide any service
Fletcher (for Bola, 83)
Johnson (for Watmore, 83)
(not used): Archer (gk), Hall, Hackney.
ROTHERHAM (5-3-2):
Blackman 7; Olosunde 7, Ihiekwe 8, Wood 7, A MacDonald 7, Harding 6; S MacDonald 6 (Hirst 68, 5), Lindsay 7 (Giles 88), Wiles 6; CROOKS 8 (Robertson 85), Smith 8.
Subs (not used): Johansson (gk), Thompson, Tilt, Clarke, Ladapo.
Man Of The Match: MATT CROOKS – Rotherham’s muscular striker asked serious questions of Middlesbrough’s makeshift defence all evening.
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