Pul-ling in the same direction

BOSS INSISTS BORO ARE ON RIGHT TRACK

TONY PULIS insists that he is not surprised by Middlesbrough’s slump.

They travel to Reading today reeling from their midweek Carabao Cup KO at the hands of League One Burton and having slipped to sixth in the table.

Pulis has come under fire from disgruntled fans, upset not only at recent results but the style of football.

Better

The Boro chief understands why they are unhappy but claims it’s far from doom and gloom at the Riverside.

“You’ve got to accept the criticism and take it on the chin,” said Pulis, whose predecessor Garry Monk was sacked on this weekend 12 months ago with Boro eighth in the table.

“On the pitch we are in a better position than we were last year and off it the club is much more together.

“But we haven’t been able to get what we wanted. You look at Patrick Bamford and Adama Traore leaving and they were two big gaps we thought we could fill, but we haven’t and that has been a bit disappointing.”

Pulis is hoping chairman Steve Gibson will now give him the go-ahead to overhaul his attack.

“They spent £54m last year,” he added. “If you look at the turnaround now, it’s £30m profit on transfers. So we’ve changed that around.”

Record buy Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite and Rudy Gestede could all leave Boro despite having spent less than 18 months on Teesside.

If they do, Pulis wants to replace them with players willing to put down roots.

He said: “There has been a history of people joining this club then leaving very quickly. That’s never a help.

“Players should come here who want to settle and play for us.”