Middlesbrough 0-0 Blackburn Rovers: Kim Hellberg's Boro lose ground on Coventry after goalless draw
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers at the Riverside Stadium on Boxing Day; Kim Hellberg's Boro frustrated in goalless draw to lose ground on leaders Coventry.
Friday 26 December 2025 18:24, UK
Middlesbrough's festive stutter continued as they were held to a goalless Championship draw by Blackburn at the Riverside.
The Teessiders suffered their first defeat under new head coach Kim Hellberg as they lost 2-0 at Bristol City in their final game before Christmas, while they were unable to find the net again as they were frustrated by a resolute Blackburn rearguard.
Morgan Whittaker fired a shot against the inside of the post in the first half, but former Middlesbrough goalkeeper Aynsley Pears was barely tested at all in the Blackburn goal in the second half as Rovers avoided defeat at Boro for the 17th time in their last 18 visits.
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Boro started brightly with Whittaker coming close with a ninth-minute shot that was saved by Pears, but the hosts suffered an early setback when centre-half Alfie Jones was forced off through injury before the midway point of the first half.
Another promising spell of Middlesbrough pressure ended with Tommy Conway and Hayden Hackney both having shots blocked in the 18-yard box, but the way side created a couple of chances of their own as they began to settle into the game.
Todd Cantwell fired into the side-netting after a cross was cleared in his direction, before Ryan Hedges saw a low strike blocked by a sliding Callum Brittain, who was lining up against the club he left to move to Teesside in the summer.
Blackburn should really have opened the scoring 10 minutes before the interval, but while Axel Henriksson sent Yuki Ohashi breaking clear from the halfway line, the Rovers striker pulled a poor effort wide of the right-hand post.
Boro also went close towards the end of the first half, with Whittaker breaking into the right-hand side of the area and cracking in a shot that cannoned off the inside of the post, with Pears beaten.
It was a day when both sides were struggling to hit the target and Middlesbrough midfielder Alex Gilbert wasted a decent opening at the start of the second half when he broke towards the edge of the box, only for his rising drive to sail over the crossbar.
A few minutes later, Blackburn full-back Matty Litherland at least found the target, but his effort lacked real power and resulted in an easy save for goalkeeper Sol Brynn.
Boro's defensive issues continued to mount during the second half, with George Edmundson and Matt Targett following Jones in being forced off because of injury problems.
The managers
Middlesbrough's Kim Hellberg:
"I think the performance was not good enough. We have had a lot of good performances over the last period of time, but I think this result was quite fair because we didn't deserve anything more than a draw.
"We're disappointed with the performance, so we have to live with the result. We take in, move on and have to try to improve.
"We weren't as good as we want to be. We had some moments, but overall, the game was not good enough from us, and we have to be honest about that, learn and improve.
"You have days that are tougher and the technical level was not as good as we have been used to.
"There were a lot of turnovers from slips that made it an open game for them. We lost some balls. You could see the lads were trying to do everything and it is going to be about handling expectations for us."
Blackburn's Valerien Ismael:
"I think this is our way to work. We know we are well organised and we want to give ourselves a chance to stay in any game with our attitude.
"I think is a good step for the players and the backline. We have been working with a lot of academy boys because the injury list has got bigger and bigger.
"The only way we can survive is if we stick together and everyone can contribute something to the team. We want to win games, but sometimes you have to adapt to the opponent and the situation.
"We are doing well at the minute - we just have to keep going through the process together and whoever is on the pitch just needs to make sure they are ready to go.
"If you want to get something at Middlesbrough, you have to play at the limits and the boys did that well."
