There will be more pressure on Middlesbrough than Barnsley when the two sides meet tomorrow, says Reds head coach Gerhard Struber.
Boro are fourth-bottom in the table, outside the relegation zone on goal difference. They are winless in ten matches whereas bottom club Barnsley have not won in 16.
Jonathan Woodgate’s Boro were second-bottom before drawing 2-2 at home to Hull City on Sunday, with their goals meaning they are no longer the division’s lowest scorers. They went 2-0 up in the first half, with ex-Red Ashley Fletcher netting the second, but had Marvin Johnson sent off before the break.
Struber said: “The pressure is absolutely on Middlesbrough. They are a very big club with other goals, not to be in the relegation fight. I saw Middlesbrough live against Hull. They have a clear counter-attack with very very good strikers.
“They have the same situation as us. We need points, Middlesbrough need points. We have a very clear plan against them and the confidence to show what we can do. Our goal is to win with a very good performance.
“Every game is important and they are all for three points. We are relaxed but we know the next games are very important for us to get better control on the ball and off the ball. We can increase the performances but the results are not always in our hands. We hope with a very good step up in the performance and focus for 90 minutes that the results will get better and we win in the next games.”
Striker Patrick Schmidt added: "It will be a tough game away but I think we can get a point or maybe three. They didn’t win for ten games so they have not convinced. It will be a very tough game but we have to show what we can do and not make the mistakes like in the last games. It helps that Middlesbrough is under pressure. They are a big club in England."
Aapo Halme played as a holding midfielder in Struber’s diamond 4-4-2 at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday but came off at half-time. Struber said: “Aapo is not fit for the game tomorrow but we hope he can play on Saturday against Hull. He has problems with the nose and the head. It’s a problem but we will find another player to play instead of him.”
Struber was pleased with the performance in the 3-2 loss at Ewood Park despite mistakes by Mads Andersen for the opening goal then poor marking by various players for the late winner.
“We must learn from the Blackburn game and have very, very high focus. We need to be clear in every second about what we need to do - from set pieces and also open play. That was our big focus for this game in Middlesbrough.
“In training we have sessions where we need good concentration and very high discipline in the position. When we have meetings we analyse the players and tell them what we need.
“Mistakes are normal in football but we hope that the number of mistakes goes down. In our situation, with the young boys, we must learn to have a good position on the ball and have a very high discipline and not lose the ball so simply to give the opponents chances.”
