How did the players fare in Middlesbrough's 2-1 defeat at Derby?
DERBY (4-4-2):
Marshall 6; Byrne 6, Wisdom 7, Clarke 7, Buchanan 7; Waghorn 6, Knight 6, Shinnie 7, Jozwiak 6 (Mengi 86); KAZIM-RICHARDS 8, Gregory 7 (Bird 74).
Subs (not used): Roos (gk), Forsyth, Sibley, Roberts, Baningime, McDonald, Watson.
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3):
5 Bettinelli: Wasn’t all that busy, but might well feel he should have got at least something to Kazim-Richards’ shot
5 Fisher: Showed signs of an attacking threat from right-back, although most of his focus was on the defensive part of his game
4 Dijksteel: His physical limitation as a centre-half were exposed as he was bullied by the imposing Kazim-Richards
6 McNair: Made a difference when he stepped into midfield in the second half – was the player trying to drive Boro on in the closing stages
6 Bola: Helped set up Kebano’s goal with his deflected shot and made a couple of threatening late breaks
6 MORSY: Was Boro’s most effective midfielder for most of the game, even if most of his work was in a deep-lying position
5 Howson: Struggled to get to grips with the Derby midfield in the first half and didn’t offer much from a more advanced position in the second
4 Saville: A disappointing display in which he was outplayed by the Derby midfield before being replaced shortly before the hour mark
4 Watmore: Never looked like troubling the Derby defence, even his effort could not be faulted
4 Assombalonga: Disappointingly ineffective as he failed to shake off the attentions of the Derby centre-halves
6 Kebano: Opened his Middlesbrough account with a crisp first-half finish and delivered a couple of decent balls into the box
Subs:
5 Hall (for Saville, 59): Kept things reasonably solid late on, although Derby were only playing on the break by that stage
4 Akpom (for Assombalonga, 59): Wasn’t able to offer anything in the Derby 18-yard box in his half-hour on the field
6 Mendez-Laing (for Watmore, 65): Showed plenty of purpose and came close with a late driven strike that was blocked
Fletcher (for Morsy, 82)
Johnson (for Kebano, 82)
(not used): Archer (gk), Spence, Coulson.
Man Of The Match: COLIN KAZIM-RICHARDS – The Derby striker possesses the kind of physical threat Boro lack, and capped a fine performance with a superb long-range strike.
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