Monday 28 December 2015 21:29, UK
Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal has revealed the Football League rebuffed his club's attempts to get their 1-0 Sky Bet Championship defeat at Middlesbrough put back.
The Portuguese felt that his side having to play just 48 hours after their Boxing Day win over Birmingham was unfair considering Boro's clash at Blackburn was postponed due to the sodden weather in the north west.
Despite having had little rest, his side only lost by one goal as Cristhian Stuani's strike after just 44 seconds proved decisive and sent Boro back to the top of the league.
Wanting the game to be played on Tuesday, Carvalhal said: "Congratulations to Boro to win the game, but I can't talk about this game without talking about the environment.
"We contacted the Football League, I don't know if it was formal contact, but we contacted the league and they said they could do nothing.
"It's not good for the competition, a serious competition, as we must put in the minimum condition of three days. That's the minimum we should give teams, or play two days and everyone is in the same condition.
"In this situation, it's completely different but I'm proud of my team as we gave a very good image of our team about our quality in the second half.
"But I wish we played this game in a completely different situation.
"We played two days ago, 48 hours after we played a hard game. It was a massive difference in conditions.
"If you play with your friends and you also played (48 hours earlier) and your friends didn't, you will feel a difference on your body. It's a massive difference - not a small difference - a massive difference.
"Some players had to play again and some of them were tired and were carrying small injury problems.
"We put a squad out against a very strong team, with a strong leader. When we have a plan with fast players in attack, with a strong midfield, you're expecting to create some damage."
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka praised his side's defensive qualities as his side ground out another tough home win to go back to the top of the pile.
Boro held on to record their seventh consecutive clean sheet in the league - and their eighth straight shut-out at home which equals a club record - to frustrate an in-form Wednesday side, who pegged Boro back for much of the second half.
"We're in a really good position," said Karanka.
"Because we're really good at home, which is the key. It's important to win at home and to show everyone how difficult it is to score against us and how consistent we are. It's important for the team that we keep this run going.
"When teams are conceding goals, people look at the defenders or the keeper, but today I look at the team.
"Everyone has to attack and defend and we had 11 defenders on the pitch in the last five minutes."
