Woodgate felt Boro deserved to be booed off after Luton defeat

Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate thought his players deserved to be booed off during their 1-0 home defeat to Luton Town on Saturday.

Ryan Tunnicliffe’s goal on 17 minutes saw Boro lose in front of their own fans for the first time since mid-October and end Hatters' run of 12 straight defeats on the road.

The final whistle was met by jeers from the Riverside faithful, as speaking to the press afterwards, Woodgate said: “I don’t blame the fans for booing us because I’d have done exactly the same.

“What I do expect is my players, when the going gets tough and they are getting a bit of stick off the crowd, they stand up and start showing character.

"I said to them at half-time, the positive is you can't play worse than that. Actually they did.

“You have to turn up in games. Like I say we didn't get to grips with the game.

"They spoiled it at times, fair play they did what they had to do.”

Woodgate wasn’t overly impressed with either side’s efforts on the day though, as he continued: “I won't discuss what I spoke to them about but I wasn't happy at all with the performance and that's all I'll say on that.

“We didn't play well and you can't say they played well.

“They ground the 1-0 out, they had one shot on target, we had one shot on target.

"Fair play to them, they got the result in the end.

“They wasted time often and it was hard to get a foothold in the game.

“When the ball went out, they were taking ages to get the ball. It’s one of those games I’m very disappointed.

"We weren’t good enough, our final ball at times was terrible, we got into good areas but didn’t deliver.

“A lot of balls were blasted across the face of goal, we have got more quality than that, that’s the frustrating thing."

Town chief Graeme Jones felt that the Boro supporters needed to keep patience with Woodgate, who took over from Tony Pulis in the summer.

Having been in a similar position when number two at West Bromwich Albion last term, Jones knows how tough a job it can be following Pulis, saying: “I think Jonathan’s work has been fantastic.

"He’s taken over from Tony, Tony’s got his own style, I know that more than anybody, because me and Darren were at West Brom when Tony had a lasting impression on the club.

"It’s not easy turning that style of play around, it takes time, you don’t get instant success with it.

“I like how Jonathan conducts himself, I like how his team tries to play.

"The crowd need to be patient with him here, it doesn't come overnight that change of style.

"It didn't for us, it was very, very difficult when I was at West Brom and that's all that he's going through.”

The result means that Town are now just seven points behind Boro with 13 games to go, as Woodgate added: “We've always been it (in the relegation fight), we've never been out of it.

“We were 10 points clear, with those games coming thick and fast you can always get back into it.

“Even when we had that spell when we were playing well and won four on the bounce, I did say there'd be times where it's tough and we're going through a rough period now.

"It's six points with goal difference, our goal difference is a lot better."