Middlesbrough boss Garry Monk has insisted that his players can take plenty of encouragement from their defeat to Bournemouth in the EFL Cup.
The Smoggies' run in the competition came to an end at the fourth-round stage on Tuesday night, as they fell to a 3-1 loss at the Vitality Stadium.
Monk made 10 changes to his starting lineup ahead of the match but saw his side battle back to make it 1-1 just before the hour, only for Callum Wilson and Benik Afobe to seal the win for Bournemouth in the final quarter of the contest.
Speaking after the match, the former Swansea City manager - who has seen his future called into question in recent weeks - claimed that the scoreline 'flattered' the opposition.
"We have not produced that level we have tonight over a period of games and I know that, but I have broad shoulders and I am happy to take that criticism as long as we keep moving," he told reporters. "We wanted to show that response and give the fans something to shout about, I feel we did that. We have had criticism in recent weeks, we have not performed at the levels we are capable of, and we wanted to show we are on the right track.
"A lot of things in this performance said that. We had a lot of travelling fans, amazing support and we wanted to make sure they got that from us. We are very aware of what is being said, we are happy to take that. It's up to me to be positive and to get us to that level we want. When you work every day and see how committed they are every day, we have tried to react in the right way.
"This showed what we can be. The scoreline flatters a little, it's hard to fault the players, there was so much right in the performance, a lot was right against a Premier League team on their own patch. We matched them for long periods, unfortunately their first two goals... Dael [Fry] will learn from those two situations. It was very harsh on us the scoreline because I felt they wanted to come and show we are ready to show what we are capable of and are on the right path.
"We competed so well and we need to show that in the next three games. We have lost the game but a lot of things have shown what we are about. It shows we are on the right track and we do know what we want to do, we have seen criticism in recent games but we have a great group here and they are committed here."
Middlesbrough, without a win in their last six games in all competitions, travel to Reading in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Daniel Lewis
