CHRIS WILDER insists his choice of formation was not the decisive factor in Middlesbrough’s 3-2 home defeat to Cardiff City on Tuesday night.

Boro produced their worst 45-minute display of the season by a considerable distance as they conceded three first-half goals at the Riverside, and while they improved after the interval, pulling two goals back of their own through Duncan Watmore and Rodrigo Muniz, they had left themselves with too big a deficit to overhaul.

The Teessiders’ defence looked especially vulnerable during the first half, leading some supporters and observers on social media to question whether Wilder is right to stick with the 3-5-2 formation that proved so successful during his time at Bramall Lane.

While his Sheffield United side excelled at the use of overlapping centre-halves, Boro’s defenders have yet to fully convince that they have got to grips with the tactical approach. Matt Crooks is struggling to influence games in a deep-lying midfield position, while Riley McGree did not really threaten against Cardiff in his new ‘number ten’ role.

Wilder, however, dismisses the notion that tactics were a key factor on Tuesday, instead pointing to the individual errors that were at the heart of Boro’s downfall.

“We think about how we line up for each game,” said the Boro boss, whose side return to action at home to Rotherham on Saturday. “What I would say with the system we started with though, it worked alright when we played Watford, it worked alright when we played Sheffield United, it worked alright when we beat Swansea and Sunderland.

“I understand that, yet again, it will get scrutinised by you guys (the press) and by supporters. People will say, ‘Go back to a four’ or ‘Go back to this, go back to that’. But when players make individual mistakes, they’re individual mistakes. It’s not a problem with the system.

“We didn’t get overpowered at any time, and we were never on the back foot. We conceded three poor goals, gave the opposition a massive lift, and those three goals were enough as they sat in and defended. If we get the first goal of the game, it forces them to come out.

“I don’t want to sound that critical of Cardiff because, ultimately, they came and got the job done. But it wasn’t a difficult place to come and get a result.”