Friend hints at Boro turmoil

Middlesbrough defender George Friend has suggested that the club’s unsuccessful attempt to secure their Premier League survival was harmed by issues within the dressing room.

The full-back and his team-mates are contemplating life back in the Sky Bet Championship after just one season in the top flight, following Monday night’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.

Boro will hold an inquest into what went wrong once the campaign draws to a close, and chairman Steve Gibson faces a big decision over whether to retain the services of Steve Agnew as head coach, after asking him to fill Aitor Karanka’s shoes in March.

But Friend believes the players also have to look at themselves.

He told BBC Tees: “You have to have a reaction, you have to give it everything for the last two games and then over the summer, you have to review what’s gone wrong. A lot of that is above my jurisdiction.

“I have to look at myself personally and perhaps my team-mates, but there are things that need to be reviewed and we need to find out what they are and make changes so these things never happen again.

“We need to do better than we have done this season, that’s the honest truth.

“I have been disappointed with certain things in the dressing room. I don’t really want to elaborate, that’s all I’ll say on that matter. But things have to be looked at and we go from there.”