McDonald makes his point to Mowbray

McDonald had already had a first half spat with team-mate Barry Robson before going on to score a brace and make his frustrations known to his manager when he was replaced without the chance to hit a hat-trick.

The Aussie front-man has never been afraid to hide his emotions since his move to the Riverside Stadium in January last year and Saturday's visit of Blackpool was another one of those occasions.

Whether it was the relief of finally finding some form in front of the posts after an 11-match drought without a goal or just a general character trait, McDonald seemed intent on getting things off his chest.

It is a style which can infuriate those around him, although his manager and team-mates had to be satisfied with his contribution with the ball against the Seasiders.

A goal in each half from the former Celtic man should have secured a victory to keep Middlesbrough within a point of second-placed West Ham United. Instead, courtesy of a couple of lapses in concentration, Blackpool drew.

Would the scoreline have been different had McDonald stayed on the pitch for the final six minutes? By the looks of his reaction to being substituted, he seemed to think so - even if his boss is looking at the bigger picture.

"Was he happy to come off? You could argue that I've not been happy for the 11 or so games with him not scoring. That's football," said Mowbray.

"It's a passionate game and I'm delighted Scott's scored. I've said all along that when he gets one, he'll go on a run of scoring goals. My job is to try to keep him hungry.

"He's a bit frustrated at coming off again, that doesn't really matter to me, it's the team that matters. As long as he's hungry to go and score again next week there'll be no problems."

McDonald, four goals this season, has built something of a reputation for himself as a moaner in a Boro shirt and that continued with less than seven minutes of the game gone.

After a lucky break, Robson chose to chip well wide of the Blackpool goal instead of squaring to his team-mate and that sparked the first exchange of words between the volatile pair.

Then the boot was on the other foot moments later. McDonald chose to ignore the opportunity to pass and lost possession.

Robson didn't need a second invitation to air his view, while McDonald seemed intent on avoiding confrontation. But when Robson wasn't looking, the Australian international turned and kicked the ball in disgust at the Scot.

But once Stephen McManus had headed against the foot of the post, Robson centred on to the head of McDonald, whose accurate header from eight yards put Boro ahead. The feuding duo put their grievances to one side and celebrated together.

"Barry and Scott are two feisty characters and you'd rather have people like that who're passionate and want to win matches than those who're too submissive," said Mowbray. "You'd rather have passionate footballers who care about trying to win games and what goes wrong and what goes right."

At that stage Middlesbrough looked comfortable, with the decision to keep Merounane Zemmama down the left injecting a vibrancy about their play, even if the Moroccan could have done better with his final pass.

But Blackpool responded six minutes later and made the most of Boro's failure to clear their lines. A move down the left was initially blocked, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher was afforded the time to turn and lay off for Ludovic Sylvestre to sidefoot beyond goalkeeper Jason Steele.

Even then Boro looked more dangerous. And Robson will still be wishing he had tried to pick his spot instead of blasting high over the bar after rounding two defenders to be left with goalkeeper Matt Gilks to beat.

Then Gilks made a stunning low save with his right hand when McDonald flicked a terrific header from Tony McMahon's centre that looked a certain second.

After the restart Gilks also prevented Marvin Emnes, who had created a chance out of nothing with a turn on the touchline, and Robson before Boro edged ahead.

This time the impressive Nicky Bailey rolled to Rhys Williams, whose low centre was cleverly turned low beyond Gilks by the potent McDonald.

Williams said: "I was delighted for Scott. He moans and is hard to put up with sometimes but he has put two in the net and he could have had a hat-trick."

Much to Boro's collective frustration, levelled once more. This time, when Williams was withdrawn with cramp, Mowbray asked Robson to slot in to the middle and Alex Nimely to move wide.

By the time Nimely had got to the far side, referee David Coote had allowed play to start. Blackpool attacked down that flank, and centred before Jonjo Shelvey arrived to poke the equaliser high above Steele.

Mowbray said: "The referee allowed them to take the throw quickly. I don't know whether I'm frustrated with the officials or with the team for not re-adjusting and seeing the spaces that needed killing."

Either way Boro had missed out on the chance to win a third successive home game, while Blackpool's resurgence continued after two wins in the build up to the trip to the North-East.

"Practically every game was like that last season where we'd get in front and lose late goals," said Mowbray. "This wasn't a late goal, there was still 15 minutes to go, but it's frustrating we'd got our noses in front, put in such a hard shift and not getting full reward."