Kim Hellberg rues absence of Will Lankshear as Middlesbrough lose at Wrexham
Lankshear had scored 13 goals in 13 league games for the leaders.
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg refused to blame the absence of top-scorer Will Lankshear after the Championship leaders’ 11-match unbeaten run ended in a 2-0 loss at Wrexham but admitted it hardly helped.
Boro looked a far cry from the side who have scored 30 goals in 13 league matches coming into the night – almost half of them scored by Lankshear who has 13 in the league – as they rarely tested Wrexham goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.
Wrexham, coming off back-to-back defeats to Blackburn and Sheffield United that had left Phil Parkinson under pressure, looked much improved and won it with late goals from George Thomason and Oli Rathbone.
Lankshear scored twice in the 3-0 weekend win over Charlton but was subbed off late on, with Hellberg initially insisting it was cramp rather than a serious issue, but the 21-year-old was not in the squad in north Wales.
“Every team would miss their top goalscorer,” Hellberg said. “I think it’s tough when the decision is made very late and you have planned for it. That doesn’t help…
“You need to find ways. Today I think it would be difficult because we weren’t sharp enough. Whoever would be on the pitch there were not so many opportunities.
“To be fair to Will, he’s not often involved so much in the build-up. He’s very good in the box and in pressing. We need to find ways, but I think every team struggles if they miss a player who has scored 13 goals in 13 games.”
Wrexham’s performance and victory was the perfect response after Friday night’s 1-0 loss at Bramall Lane left Parkinson telling his players some home truths.
“It was important we put that back in place tonight,” Parkinson said. “I’ve got to stress that it hasn’t been missing all season. We’ve had some really good performances.
“However, in that first half against Sheffield United we lacked everything we want to be as a team.
“Tonight we were very structured. The spaces were tight, so we could get up to the ball and take it off them. The amount of times we got up to the ball and came out in our duals is exactly how we want to play as a team.”
He added: “As I said to you after the game on Friday, all I ever want, and all the owners want, is the honesty in the performance that our fans can relate to.
“That’s why there’s been a great connection with the supporters and the players, and the owners and myself is because in general they’ve seen honesty and commitment and that’s what the club’s all about.”
However, there was bad news for Wrexham on the night with confirmation that Sam Smith will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.
“He’s going to be out for nine months, he faces the operation on Wednesday,” Parkinson said.
“Callum O’Hare had to walk off the training pitch on Thursday before Sheffield United and I started to feel are we a team feeling sorry for ourselves, and we can’t be that team. We’ve had injuries in other years, we’ve had setbacks. We’ve always dug deep.”