We Are Middlesbrough

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Middlesbrough have cancelled their pre-match press conference with head coach Rob Edwards.

He was due to face the media at 13:00 GMT ahead of Boro's home game with Birmingham City on Saturday but that will now not take place.

BBC Tees also reports that Edwards did not take training at the club's Rockliffe Park base on Friday morning.

The 42-year-old is a leading candidate for the vacant post at Wolverhampton Wanderers and on Thursday the Teessiders rejected the Premier League club's approach to speak to him.

Since replacing Michael Carrick at Boro in the summer, Edwards has led the side to third with just two defeats in their opening 14 Championship games.

Middlesbrough defender Luke Ayling says Tuesday's hard-fought Championship draw at Leicester feels "like a win".

Ayling rose highest in the sixth minute of added time to rescue a point for Boro, who had been reduced to 10 men moments earlier with Alfie Jones being dismissed.

The defender told BBC Radio Tees: "We go away from that feeling like it's a win, we know we did enough to probably win the game.

"We felt like we were on top for most of the game, and then we give away another sloppy goal which has been a theme of our last few games.

"When we go down to 10 men and we come back and score a late goal, it's a great feeling, the dressing room is buzzing - it's a point, we wanted three, but we take it."

Ayling's equaliser was his first goal for the club, indeed his first since scoring for former side Leeds back in August 2023.

"It felt like the ball was up in the air for a while and I could see it was coming to the back stick," added the 34-year-old, who has featured in every league game for Boro so far this season.

"I knew if I timed my jump I could probably get on the back of the defender, I headed it and it felt like it took forever to go in, it was in slow motion, but when it hit the back of the net it's always a great feeling."

Listen to the full interview and more Boro content on BBC Sounds.

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Middlesbrough head coach Rob Edwards says he was thrilled with his side's "never say die" attitude as Luke Ayling's 96th-minute header rescued a draw away to Leicester City.

But the frustration came from the fact that Boro only claimed a point from a match in which they had more possession, more shots and shots on target, more corners and more touches in the opposition box than the Foxes.

"It feels like a win because of how it happened, but it should have been a win," Edwards told BBC Radio Tees. "The performance justified a win."

The draw sees Boro slip out of the top two and they are now one point behind Stoke City, but Edwards was happy with how side played three days after their 3-0 loss at Watford.

"We've dominated the game, so that was a really pleasing performance," he said. "That was a great reaction to a disappointment on Saturday.

"We've reacted really well and any time we've been defeated this season, we've responded with a good performance and a good result. And we've done it again."

Leicester will be seeking to get their promotion hopes back on track on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) when they welcome Middlesbrough to the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes have now lost their past three games in the league, and have registered just one win in five - they are 14th in the Championship.

Meanwhile, automatic promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough suffered a blow last time out, when Watford put three past them in just Boro's second loss of the season.

• Leicester went on a 14-game unbeaten run in the league against Middlesbrough between 2003 and 2017 (W6 D8), but Boro did the double over them in the 2023-24 campaign when the teams last met.

• Middlesbrough beat Leicester 2-1 in their most recent visit to the King Power Stadium in February 2024, but have not won consecutive league visits to the Foxes since 2000-01 and 2001-02 in the Premier League.

• Leicester are winless in their past six midweek (Tue/Wed/Thu) league games (D1 L5), since winning 3-1 at home to West Ham United in December 2024.

• Middlesbrough have won just two of their past 20 away league games against opponents that were relegated from the Premier League the season prior, beating Norwich in November 2022 and Leicester in February 2024 (D8 L10).

• Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes has lost all three of his league meetings with Middlesbrough - but has won both of his two meetings with Boro boss Rob Edwards, doing the double over his Luton side with QPR last season (2-1 both home and away), after the second of which Edwards stepped down from his role with the Hatters.

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards says his side has "reacted well" to Saturday's 3-0 away defeat against Watford.

Boro suffered only their second league defeat of the campaign at the hands of Edwards' former club.

"It was frustrating to lose the game," Edwards told BBC Radio Tees.

"You can dissect the life out of it and look at every second, but the bottom line is we have to be a little bit better in a couple of areas in the top end, and for the first time this season we have not defended certain areas as well as we have done.

"We have had a good couple of days since then. We had a good recovery day yesterday and a productive meeting to see where we can improve.

"There has been a good reaction mentality wise and that is what there needs to be.

"The lads are a really honest group and they are going to make mistakes at times, but what we have just done is gain clarity over certain situations."

Middlesbrough return to action with a trip to Leicester on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

"They have got really good players, especially for this level and I think they've been unlucky at times," Edwards added.

"They can dominate a game and make you sit back, so we are going to have to be really disciplined."

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards said his promotion-chasing side learnt a harsh lesson in their 3-0 loss at Watford.

Edwards felt his Boro players were caught on the counter-attack by Watford on his return to his former club.

"It's a really disappointing result," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"I was actually really excited about this game and I thought we started well. It was about managing those moments and the biggest part of our message to the boys, as soon as we lose it, make sure we manage their counter-attacks and stop them switching it because they have pace in the wide areas, and we didn't do that.

"There was not loads and loads wrong, and we got into areas loads of times, but didn't make it count. At both ends of the pitch, we were second best. We'll all learn from this."