Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder was relieved to see his side pick up their first away win of 2022 as they defeated Birmingham 2-0 at St Andrew’s.
Nico Gordon’s 23rd-minute own goal set Middlesbrough on their way after Aaron Connolly’s attempt was saved by Neil Etheridge.
Boro ensured they returned to the Riverside with maximum points when Folarin Balogun’s impressive performance was completed with a tremendous strike shortly after Paddy McNair’s penalty miss.
They are now sixth in the Championship and have strengthened their bid to make the play-offs at the end of the season with an impressive performance.
Birmingham, who sit 13 points clear of the relegation zone, had defender Kristian Pedersen dismissed late on for a second yellow card.
Wilder, who has 11 league wins in charge, stressed the importance of the victory and was pleased with his side’s reaction to the defeat at Sheffield United last week.
He said: “It was important. We stressed to the players that we needed it. We were terribly disappointed with what happened at Bramall Lane. The reaction over the two away games has been excellent.
“It was important tonight that we got a win,” Wilder continued. “Our reaction to the disallowed goal and the missed penalty was excellent. But the quality of the second goal put us in the ascendancy and we were pretty comfortable after that.”
Middlesbrough have the third-best home form in the division and that has been an important factor in their rise under Wilder this season. But the Boro boss has urged his players to build on this away win going into the crunch time of the season.
“It wasn’t a lack of belief or quality,” he said.
“If we’re going to be in the shout for the top six then we’ve got to pick up points away from home and four points from six is a good effort.”
Lee Bowyer, whose side have only won three times in 18 league games, called out his players’ lack of passion in the defeat.
“Tonight wasn’t good enough, in lots of ways,” the Blues head coach said.
“I’m the person in charge and I take full responsibility for that. But sometimes your players have to look at themselves.
“We lost every battle, all over the pitch, so that hurts me a lot. Just accepting defeats, rolling over and pulling out of tackles, that’s not what this football club’s about. I didn’t see enough passion.”
With this week marking a year since his arrival as head coach at the club, Bowyer was reluctant to hold back on the defeat.
“You’re not in a relegation fight in the past four years unless you have performances like that.
“It shocks me because I don’t accept it. But that’s the running thing here and that’s what we need to change. In the summer, people will have to move on.”
