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.