Anxiety affecting Boro players, claims Monk

Britt Assombalonga wins his header during Boro’s 2-2 draw with Brentford GARRY Monk admitted he sees anxiety in his players, as they ‘try to do the right things’ and push Boro up the league.

Boro have fallen behind in each of their last four matches and now sit four points behind the play-off spots after drawing with Brentford at the Riverside.

Slow starts and giving themselves mountains to climb has led to criticism of the side.

But Monk said: “The intention of the players is clear, they want to go and do the right things. Strangely, I sense a bit of anxiety in them.

“It led to certain mistakes with the ball, the goals we conceded were from our own doing.

“A set-piece for the first, probably the first we have conceded from a set piece.

“Credit to them getting back into it again and maybe even nicking a winner again.

“Perspective, though, because we have lost one in nine, yes we want more, yes we want more in the performance, but we have lost one in nine. The last international break we talked about needing improvements and they came, this international break we need to look to correct and make further improvements.

“We need to come out firing like we did last time.

“Our crowd has been great, the players are fully committed, the intention is clear. I can say that honestly.

“We have spoken about having more confidence, of course we see that and we will work on those things during the break.

“That’s when we do get the chance to work hard on those.”

Brentford boss Dean Smith, meanwhile, claimed referee Paul Tierney refused to shake his hand after he had questioned a penalty decision.

The Bees still managed to claim a point despite letting the lead slip twice, but Smith felt Brentford should have had a spot-kick when Kamohelo Mokotjo appeared to be tripped in the area by Adam Clayton in the first half, only for the officials to play on.

Smith said: “It feels like two points dropped, the performance merited more to take the lead twice and not come away with three points is disappointing.

“We’ve done well against a very good Middlesbrough team and it’s only our final ball that’s let us down.

“We had a stonewall penalty early on I thought but the referee refused to shake my hand at the end so he didn’t indulge in any discussion and refused to shake my hand.

“I’ve never known it before and I’ll be speaking to the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) about it for sure.

“The first goal is one we’ve really worked on and we thoroughly deserved it. You could hear the disappointment from the Middlesbrough fans.

“A lot of clubs expect little Brentford to turn up and we surprise them.”