Johnson is key to curing Teessiders’ goal drought

IF MIDDLESBROUGH are tempted to sell Adam Johnson before the transfer window closes at 5pm this afternoon, here’s a statistic that might make them think again.

Take Johnson’s goals out of the equation, and Boro’s leading scorer this season is Leroy Lita with seven goals from 26 matches. That’s only just one goal every four games.

Take Lita out of the picture, and you’re looking at the constantly- injured Jeremie Aliadiere with four. Indeed, remove Johnson’s goals from the record books, and the entire Middlesbrough squad have only managed 28 successes in 30 matches, one less than Cardiff duo Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra have claimed between them.

For all that Johnson is rightly praised for his crossing ability and willingness to go past a man, the winger is also the only Boro player who can be relied upon to score on a regular basis.

If he is not quite firing, as he wasn’t in Saturday’s goalless draw with Bristol City, it is safe to assume the Teessiders will struggle as a result.

So even if Scott McDonald arrives to provide some firepower later today, can Middlesbrough really afford to part company with the one person who looks capable of converting chances into goals?

“There were a lot of things I was comfortable with,” said Boro boss Gordon Strachan.

“But until we conquer our fear of the 18-yard box, we’ll have uncomfortable afternoons.

“We just needed a bit more thought when we got to the penalty area, and if we’d had that, the people up front would have been feeling a bit better about themselves. We controlled the game and showed great enthusiasm, but had the same old failings in the 18-yard box.”

Those failings were apparent throughout, and ultimately were the difference between Boro claiming a win that would have taken them to within two points of the play-off places and settling for a draw that means they remain on the fringe of the promotion pack.

Both Chris Killen and Leroy Lita were guilty of missing decent opportunities, and neither looks like being the answer to the club’s goalscoring problems. Strachan therefore has until 5pm to both hold on to Johnson and locate somebody who is.

Lita’s misses peppered the first half – a half-volley fired over as early as the fourth minute and a snapshot that Dean Gerken saved easily at his near post – while Killen’s came after the interval, most notably a half-volley that was hammered over the crossbar on the hour mark and a wasteful slash into the side-netting in stoppage time.

That was the downside to Boro’s performance, along with the round-peg-in-asquare- hole display of Justin Hoyte at left-back and the needless red card picked up by Barry Robson midway through the second half.

Hoyte wasted countless early openings by either cutting inside to use his right foot or spraying crosses here, there and everywhere with his left, while Robson was rightly red carded after a halfhour running battle with referee Colin Webster that saw him constantly haranguing and harassing the official.

Ostensibly, Robson was dismissed for fouls on Cole Skuse and Nicky Maynard. In reality, Webster probably sent him off because he was desperate for a moment’s peace.

At least the former Celtic midfielder proved he cared though, and the spirit and character evident within the home side’s ranks was the major positive to emerge from an afternoon that will otherwise be easy to forget.

Defensively, Boro were much stronger than they have been recently, with David Wheater and Jonathan Grounds forming a centrehalf partnership with enough embryonic promise to suggest that new arrival Stephen Mc- Manus might have to warm the bench for a while.

Danny Coyne’s first save of note did not come until the 83rd minute – a smart stop from Jamal Campbell-Ryce’s long-range half-volley – and the clean sheet was only Boro’s second in 15 Championship matches.

“If we’re not scoring, we have to keep a clean sheet because, that way, we’re guaranteed at least a point,” said Wheater. “We did our jobs at the back and that has to be the base we build everything else on. There’s been a lot of chopping and changing at the back recently, but hopefully this is the start of a settled spell.”

A sense of stability was also discernible in midfield, particularly before Robson’s dismissal.

While the 31-year-old should have known better than to have invited Webster to dismiss him, his partnership with Gary O’Neil promises to offer the kind of energy and tenacity that Boro lacked in the first half of the season.

Willo Flood’s energy on the right-hand side is also welcome, and the Irishman threatened to produce one of the highlights of the season when he went past three men on a raking run into the box, only to be denied by a lastditch tackle from Louis Carey.

With the hosts refusing to nervously retreat into their own penalty area after Robson’s dismissal, there were undoubtedly positives to emerge from the stalemate.

Ultimately, though, they will count for little if Middlesbrough continue to struggle to put the ball in the net.

All of which, of course, brings us back to Johnson, McDonald and Strachan.

With the transfer clock ticking, Gordon it’s over to you…

Match facts

Bookings: Robson (32, foul), Nyatanga (50, foul), Agyemang (58, foul), Carey (68, foul)

Sending-offs: Robson (57, second yellow card, foul)

Referee: Colin Webster (Shotley Bridge) – His dismissal of Robson was just about justified, but his overall performance was poor 3

Attendance: 17,865

Entertainment: ✰

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):

6 Coyne: Didn’t have a lot to do, but continues to exude confidence and security

6 McMahon: Rock solid defensively, and tried to get forward whenever the situation allowed

7 WHEATER: Composed and controlled throughout, and even came close to scoring a winner late on

7 Grounds: The latest centrehalf to be tried this season, and could prove one of the best

4 Hoyte: Got himself into some great positions, but then delivered a sequence of terrible crosses

6 Flood: Never stopped running, but couldn’t find the finish to go with his approach play

5 O’Neil: Started strongly, but became less and less influential as the game wore on

4 Robson: Invited the referee to send him off with a series of niggling fouls an arguments

5 Johnson: Not at his most influential, seemed as if his mind was elsewhere

5 Killen: Wasted Boro’s best opportunity when he blazed over the crossbar midway through the second half

5 Lita: Bustled away his usual busy manner, but doesn’t really convince in front of goal

Subs:

Arca (for Hoyte 64): Looked a much more comfortable left-back than the player he replaced 6 Franks (for Lita 73) (not used): Steele (gk), Taylor, McManus, Bennett, L Williams

BRISTOL CITY (5-3-2): Gerken 6; Orr 6, Carey 7, FONTAINE 7, Nyatanga 6 (Sproule 85), McAllister 5; Skuse 5 (Elliott 46, 4), Hartley 5, Campbell-Ryce 5; Agyemang 5, Maynard 5 (Haynes 72). Subs (not used): Henderson (gk), Clarkson, Sno, Saborio

MAN OF THE MATCH

DAVID Wheater – After a shaky start to the season, the Boro defender is starting to recapture his best form.