FRANCK QUEUDRUE last night delivered a frank assessment of Middlesbrough's inconsistency by highlighting a lack of fire as the main reason for a failure to win two Premiership games in a row.

Boro have picked up just 15 points from a possible 36 this season and have failed to cement a place in the top half because of their unpredictability.

After 12 matches they sit 13th in the table, some five points adrift of the top six and three points and a few goals shy of climbing out of the bottom half.

But it is Boro's alarming failure to win successive league games which is stopping them from becoming a major force domestically. It is a year since manager Steve McClaren watched his team win back-to-back fixtures.

McClaren's squad still managed to celebrate a record finish and a UEFA Cup spot last season, even though they suffered similarly unreliable form in the Premiership, suggesting they could surpass that if they hit a ruthless streak.

Queudrue feels he knows why they are suffering from such a puzzling series of results, dating back 36 games to when they beat West Brom at The Hawthorns before defeating Liverpool at home in 2004.

The Frenchman points to Boro's failure to match some of the division's lesser lights for desire and determination as a telling factor in that incredible run.

As well as losing to Everton on Sunday - a game in which he insists Boro did match the Toffees for tenacity - Boro have lost to West Ham and Sunderland, while they have also failed to beat Wigan and Portsmouth this season.

Those results have tarnished impressive victories over Arsenal, Manchester United, Birmingham and Aston Villa.

Queudrue has urged the whole squad to use the two-week international break to prepare for two home fixtures that offer the perfect chance to end their stop-start run - against Fulham on November 20 and West Brom a week later.

"It's strange how we win one game then struggle to win the next," said the Frenchman, who also faces a trip to AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup inbetween those two domestic games.

"Maybe it's because all the teams we face make it so difficult. There are those we face who are fighting for survival and that's hard.

"They show more fight than us and maybe we have to match that fight, like we did at Everton, even though we didn't get the result.

"We defended well on Sunday but couldn't score. That's life."

If Boro can find the solution to their prolonged inconsistency sooner rather than later then there is every chance a concerted push for a Champions League place could be on the cards.

All the usual contenders below Chelsea are also struggling to string a sustained number of victories together.

And the 27-year-old used Wigan, sitting second after their promotion in May, as the perfect example of what can be achieved if Boro can go on a run of their own.

"At the moment Wigan have got everything going for them," he said. "The league is weird. There are teams like Manchester and Arsenal who are not doing too well. But when we get chances to close the gap we have to take them.

"That's what happened at Everton on Sunday.

"We wasted the performance we put in against Manchester United, when we won 4-1, so we are down about that. We just need to have a rest and come back and make sure we get two wins from two home games. We have no excuses."

* Boro's season ticket holders aged under 16 or over 65 will be able to snap up tickets for the Carling Cup clash with Crystal Palace on November 30 for just a fiver.

The club are offering tickets for £5 for supporters under-16 for the home league game with Fulham on November 20.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.