Middlesbrough 0-0 Rotherham United: Boro frustrated by stubborn Millers
- Published
Duncan Watmore went closest to breaking the deadlock
Middlesbrough were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Rotherham at the Riverside to stay in the bottom three of the Championship.
Duncan Watmore went closest to scoring for the hosts soon after the break, clipping a shot against the post which rolled agonisingly along the goalline to safety.
Isaiah Jones should have done better than steer a low effort into the side netting when teed up by Watmore in the best chance of the first half.
The Millers failed to muster a shot on target, but will go into the international break in eighth, while Boro remain 22nd, in the bottom three on goal difference.
In perhaps a reversal of fortunes from recent Championship seasons, the match kicked off with Middlesbrough looking to climb out of the bottom three and Rotherham knowing a win would lift them up to fifth.
Boro, who have taken nine of their 10 points at the Riverside this season but were 3-0 down at half-time in losing at home to Cardiff on Tuesday night, created the better of the openings in a match light on goalmouth action, with Watmore at the heart of them.
The striker, recalled to the side by Chris Wilder, lashed over when well placed in the first half after Richard Wood had made a hash of Riley McGree's routine ball into the box.
At the other end, the visitors were solid at the back and sharp on the break, particularly in the first half, with Wood inches away from touching Conor Washington's effort into the net.
But the Millers have scored just one of their 12 league goals on the road this season and that was as close as they came with Boro claiming just a second clean sheet of the season.
The hosts' frustration grew after the break against a well-drilled defence, and when a neat move did put Watmore in behind, Wood recovered well to stretch out a leg and deflect his angled shot into the side netting.
Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder:
"It's an arm wrestle at the moment. It's not free-flowing. It's a bit tough but we've just got to dig in. The players' attitude was good and I didn't think it was a negative performance. It was an edgy performance.
"But the sun is not always shining. It is not always an easy game. You take that split second longer, you don't play that first-time pass and have an extra touch, which slows the game down.
"Rotherham are not in a false position. They are a hard-working side, possibly one of the last teams you'd want to play. It was a tough evening. We knew it would be.
"After 45 minutes on Tuesday scratching your head at where you are going to get a clean sheet, we managed to do that - and that is a positive."
Rotherham United manager Paul Warne:
"It was a tiring match. Both sets of players looked exhausted by the end. First half there was a real pace to the game and the ball hardly went out of play but in the second half, as a spectacle and as a game, it fizzled out.
"In games like that, sometimes you are lucky and you can nick a set piece and take all three points. However, you can concede one too.
"So overall I am the happier of the managers because they definitely created more good play in the final third than we did and we limited them to very few full chances.
"We're still only four points off the bottom three. It doesn't feel like we're flying. It just feels like we're doing really well at the moment and we are quite fortunate with injuries."