GEORGE Boateng pointed the finger at Middlesbrough's profligacy in front of goal and the inspired heroics of Sunderland goalkeeper Kelvin Davis as the reasons behind Sunday's derby day defeat.

Boro created several golden opportunities in the Tees-Wear clash to pull back the deficit - after both Tommy Miller and Julio Arca opened their season's account for the Black Cats - but found Davis in outstanding form between the sticks.

The former Ipswich goalkeeper has come under fire recently for some indifferent performances for his new club, but he went a long way in redeeming himself in front of the travelling Wearsiders at the Riverside Stadium.

Boateng, one of the few highlights to emerge from Boro's dreadful display, admitted he was gutted by the defeat.

"It started badly and it ended badly, but we tried - you could see the chances that we created," said the 30-year-old midfielder.

"Their goalkeeper had a fantastic game and, on another day, we might have scored four or five goals.

"They scored in the first half, but taking the half as a whole, I think that was against the run of play. With the chances we had, we should have scored goals, it is as simple as that."

Sunday's defeat came on the back of a three-match unbeaten run. Boro enjoyed consecutive Riverside victories against Arsenal and FC Xanthi before playing out a lacklustre draw against Wigan at the JJB Stadium.

Boateng was generous in his praise of Mick McCarthy's side but he believes it is this inconsistency which threatens to ruin the Teessider's season.

"Their (Sunderland) attitude when they went 2-0 up made a lot of difference," admitted Boro's combative star.

"You could see that they were hungry and they wanted to win the game.

"We tried, and even in the second half we created some decent chances - but we didn't take them.

"We are showing no consistency at all and that is a worry. We peak and then all of a sudden we get a thunderbolt like this result.

"Nobody sees it coming. You can't say that we didn't want it enough because you can see the chances that we created.

"We had a lot of possession but, once you are two goals behind, there are bound to be certain spells in the game where your opponents are trying to kill time. They used that tactic very well."

Boateng insists there is no mystery behind Boro's misfiring fortunes, he believes it is down to the players not doing their jobs properly.

The Dutchman then revealed a simple solution to solve Boro's Jekyll and Hyde season - more hard work on the training ground.

"The chances are just not going in for us at the moment," he said ruefully.

"Look right back to the second half of Tottenham away. We played some good football and created some good chances, but the ball just wouldn't go into the goal.

"It's very simple - we need to do our jobs at both ends of the field a bit better. We gave two goals away and didn't score at the other end - it's not hard to work out that neither is good enough.

"Forget what we are doing in the middle third. The essence of the game happens at either end and that is letting us down.

"Everybody is disappointed because you don't know what to say at the end of a game like that. We don't know what the next step is because this is something that none of us expected.

"As players, we know that we are the people responsible for this and we know that we are the only people who can put it right."

Boro fly out to Greece tomorrow for their UEFA Cup second leg tie against FC Xanthi hoping to get Sunday's defeat out of their system.

Boateng, however, reckons a victory against the Greeks on Thursday will do nothing to erase the disappointment of losing against the Black Cats.

"It hurts. Sunderland hadn't won before the game and they were bottom of the league," said the former Feyenoord, Coventry and Aston Villa man. "It's painful that they were able to come here and win their first game of the season. They are our biggest rivals and we know what this means.

"Winning on Thursday will not make up for this. This will hurt for a while. The UEFA Cup is a totally different competition and you cannot make comparisons.

"We will be down for a long time because of this and, already, I cannot wait to go to Sunderland and put things right. Winning on their ground will be the only way to make up for this defeat."

* Danny Graham and James Morrison have been selected for the England under 20 friendly at Burnley against Holland on October 9.

* Fans can watch Thursday's tie in the hospitality suites at the Riverside Stadium. Tickets for the 7pm kick-off are strictly on a first-come first served basis.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.