Daily Mirror

I won’t moan, but I wouldn’t mind a wine or two

AFTER TURNING 72, WARNOCK ASKS FOR A BIRTHDAY DRINK RATHER THAN JUST THE 3 POINTS!

- BY SIMON BIRD

Championsh­ip: Riverside, 7pm

NEIL WARNOCK has ordered a vintage performanc­e for his birthday – by asking his players to buy him a fancy bottle of wine.

Boro host Swansea tonight and rather than ask for three points for his latest milestone Warnock, who turned 72 yesterday, has a better idea. He said: “Will the players get me a present? A nice bottle of Chateauneu­f du Pape.

“You thought I was going to say points, didn’t you! You u try to forget birthdays as soon as possible at my age.” e.”

Warnock has spent the e week running his squad through the mistakes and game management errors made in the 3-2 defeat to Huddersfie­ld on Saturday.

That included an amazing miss by Britt tt Assombalon­ga (right), who o scooped a cross over the bar ar from three yards. Warnock admitted those errors have to be stopped.

He said: “You can’t practise the chances we missed. If it was a clearance off the line Britt’s would be a brilliant clearance.

“I still don’t understand it. Neither does Britt. They don’t do it on purpose.

“That would have been a psychologi­cal blow, to kill them, to go 2-0 up. Football turns on things like that.

“Stupid things have cost us. Quite ridiculous really. We have to learn.

“We went through the mistakes and misses we had but it is all gone now and in the past.”

Boro are on the fringes of

the play-off zone and need a win at the Riverside to stay in the hunt.

Warnock added: “We are probably where we thought we might be, but not where we should be. That is a disappoint­ment for me.

“Anyone can still get promotion in the league apart from the bottom five.

“After Christmas is the time to put a run together. If we are there or there abouts in January I’ll be happy.”

Defender Grant Hall is out for at least three months after injuring a thigh.

 ??  ?? SIGN OF THE TIMES Manager Neil Warnock oversees the contract extension of Boro defender Paddy McNair yesterday
SIGN OF THE TIMES Manager Neil Warnock oversees the contract extension of Boro defender Paddy McNair yesterday

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