Middlesbrough were forced to settle for a fourth-place finish in the Championship as they were held to a goalless draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Riverside Stadium this afternoon.
Brighton had a couple of early efforts through Gordon Greer and Beram Kayal, but neither was able to find the target inside the first 10 minutes.
Albert Adomah forced Brighton keeper Christian Walton into a save after cutting inside on 16 minutes, before Lee Tomlin saw a shot blocked on the edge of the box.
A neat exchange between Kike and Dwight Tiendalli saw a chance fall to Adomah on the half-hour mark, but his close-range effort was deflected wide for a corner.
Fernando Amorebieta should have done better when he tried to square for Kike for a tap-in, but the former Fulham defender's pass was too heavy and the chance went begging for the home side.
Boro started the second half brightly and a chance fell Adam Forshaw's way after good work from Tomlin, but his effort was well held by Walton.
An inviting corner saw Ben Gibson narrowly miss connecting with a header before Kike failed to get a touch with his right foot as Aitor Karanka's men continued to push for the opener before the hour mark.
Kike had a great chance at the death but the striker could only mishit the effort that was eventually saved by Walton.
Karanka's men will now meet Brentford in the playoff semi-final, while the Seagulls finish the campaign in 21st in the final Championship table.
Paul Gorst
