Town dealt Middlesbrough’s automatic promotion hopes a blow after leaving the Riverside Stadium having claimed a 0-0 draw. Former Blues striker Jordan Rhodes came closest to scoring when he hit the post in the second half.

Blues boss Mick McCarthy handed on-loan Barnsley defender Paul Digby his first league start for the Blues at right-sided centre-half alongside Tommy Smith with Christophe Berra out due to a knee injury.

The Sheffield-born loanee had previously made three sub appearances for Town in the league in addition to two FA Cup starts. For Barnsley he had made 11 senior starts and 14 appearances from the bench.

McCarthy made four changes in total with Luke Hyam, David McGoldrick and Kevin Bru also starting, while Andre Dozzell, Brett Pitman and Jonathan Douglas dropped to the bench, alongside Teddy Bishop, who played his first 90 minutes of the season for the U21s at Sheffield United on Monday.

Hyam joined Cole Skuse in the deeper central roles with Bru ahead of them and McGoldrick up front in the middle with Liam Feeney on the right and Freddie Sears on the right.

Second-placed Middlesbrough started with Rhodes up front, while David Nugent was on the bench.

The Teessiders, who were skippered by ex-Town captain Grant Leadbitter, made one change with Ritchie De Laet replacing hamstring injury victim George Friend at left-back.

In blustery conditions the Blues began the game on top and in the fifth minute McGoldrick turned a shot to Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos from just inside the box.

But the home side quickly began to take charge, Bartosz Bialkowski claiming a cross from Albert Adomah, then Digby clearing a ball in from the left from Stewart Downing.

The Teessiders had the ball in the net in the eighth minute after a freekick taken by Leadbitter on the left but referee Darren Bond had already called them back to take it again. When it was retaken, Leadbitter’s ball across just evaded Rhodes lurking at the far post.

With the home side now very much on top and with the home crowd making plenty of noise, there was a moment of indecision between Digby and Bialkowski as they sought to deal with a ball forward on 11, but the youngster was able to clear his lines.

Bialkowski kept the scores level with another excellent save in the 15th minute after Rhodes had nodded down an Adomah cross from the right to Downing, who found himself space before hitting a well-struck shot which the Polish keeper stop down to his left.

Moments later, Feeney broke away for Town on the right and sent over a low ball which Hyam bundled wide at the near post.

But Boro were still having much the better of it and in the 21st minute Smith diverted a corner back towards his own goal but straight at Bialkowski, who claimed.

On 28 Digby failed to judge a wind-affected high ball played into a corner and was dispossessed by De Laet, who he caught in the chest with a boot.

Following the freekick the Teessiders went close again, Rhodes - scorer of six goals in his six previous games against the Blues - crossing from the left of the box to Adomah at the far post, but the Ghanaian international nodded wide. Two minutes later Hyam picked up the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Rhodes.

Boro should have gone in front in the 34th minute when Gaston Ramirez played Rhodes in on goal, but Bialkowski stood his ground and got down to his left to palm the ex-Town striker’s shot wide.

Shortly after the resultant corner, Adomah whipped over another teasing cross from the right which Rhodes just failed to reach.

Town were pinned back in their half and at times were defending desperately, not least when Digby, already grounded having bought a dummy, somehow stretched out a boot to thwart Emilio Nsue after he had been played in on goal.

As the half moved into injury time Jonas Knudsen diverted Adam Clayton’s cross from the left wide ahead of Adomah. From the corner, Ben Gibson looped a header wide. Soon afterwards referee Bond brought the half to a close.

Aside from the opening five minutes it had been almost all Boro and they will feel they should have been ahead as they left the field.

The Blues had spent much of the period defending inside their box with Bialkowski forced into two important saves.

Full Town league debutant Digby had had one or two tough moments in what weren’t easy conditions but had similarly made important challenges and had grown in confidence as the half wore on.

A minute after the restart Ramirez sent in a ball from the right which Rhodes just failed to divert away from Bialkowski.

In the 48th minute Nsue did well to crowd out McGoldrick after the striker had got a rare sniff inside the Boro area.

Soon after, the Irish international was found in space on the right of the box but was dispossessed as he turned inside a defender. At the other end, Adomah hit a 50th minute shot through to Bialkowski, which the keeper held on to comfortably.

The Blues had made a stronger start to the second half and on 52 Feeney won a freekick on the right but the on-loan Bolton man hit the first defender with the set piece.

Two minutes later, Skuse headed an Nsue cross from the right behind and from the corner Daniel Ayala nodded into the ground and over.

Rhodes got in behind his good friend Smith who had misjudged a ball over the top on 61 and tangled with Digby inside the area, leading to penalty appeals from the home fans, but with the linesman’s flag already having been raised.

After the Blues’ couple of early forays into the Boro box, the game had reverted to the pattern of the first half. On 66, with the home fans very vocal, Knudsen did well to beat Adomah in the air at the far post as a cross came in from the left

A minute later, the home side went within a whisker of claiming the lead. Ramirez made a clever run into the area and found Rhodes, who hit a shot on the turn across Bialkowski and on to the post and the keeper gratefully pounced on the loose ball.

Cristhian Stuani replaced Downing for the Teessiders on 70, then a minute later Bishop replaced Hyam for the Blues. Bru moved alongside Skuse and Bishop, who had one of his best games for Town in the 2-0 home victory over Boro at Portman Road last season, took up the role behind McGoldrick.

The Blues managed to weather the storm and as the game moved towards its final quarter of an hour were starting to look more threatening, albeit without forcing Konstantopoulos into a save.

On 76 Kevin Foley replaced Knudsen, who limped off with what looked to be an ankle injury.

A minute later, McGoldrick sent Sears away in space on the Town left but the former Colchester man cut inside and lost the ball when he should have played in Feeney, who was breaking quickly down the middle.

Town nemesis Nugent was introduced with eight minutes to go for Ramirez as Boro moved to 4-4-2 as they desperately sought a winning goal.

Two minutes later Leadbitter was booked for a foul on McGoldrick and while the Blues were preparing to take it Douglas took over from Bru.

McGoldrick smashed the freekick against the wall, but Town regained possession and Smith brought the ball forward before finding Feeney on the right but the winger screwed his shot well wide.

De Laet curled a shot well past Bialkowski’s left post in the 88th minute but the Teessiders hadn’t seriously threatened for some minutes and appeared to have run out of ideas.

A minute into three additional minutes Nugent got a chance to add to his 15 goals in 14 games against the Blues, but the one-time England man’s header was too close to Bialkowski, who saved.

Moments before the end, a cross from the right reached the former Leicester and Portsmouth striker at the far post but he scuffed his strike. Seconds later, a battling Town point was confirmed.

Aside from the spell midway through the second half in which Rhodes hit the post, the home side weren’t as dominant after the break as they had been in the opening 45 minutes.

Town defended staunchly and Digby, making his first start, will be pleased with his performance overall, despite a couple of nervy moments in the first half.

At the other end Boro keeper Konstantopoulos was rarely seriously tested with Town’s better attacking opportunities tending to flounder at the final ball stage and the Blues have now scored only three goals in seven games.

However, a point and a clean sheet away against one of the division’s top sides is a decent result for Town, particularly with neither Rhodes nor Nugent managing to score.

The Teessiders remain second on goal difference from Burnley with Brighton third, also by goal difference.

Town, who in any case had all but no chance of making the play-offs, are now are mathematically out of the play-off running and confirmed as a Championship side for a 15th year.

The Blues face the MK Dons in their final home game of the season next week before a last day trip to Derby.

Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, De Laet, Clayton, Leadbitter (c), Adomah, Ramirez (Nugent 82), Downing (Stuani 70), Rhodes. Unused: Agazzi, Forshaw, Kalas, Husband, De Sart.

Town: Bialkowski, Knudsen (Foley 76), Chambers (c), Smith, Digby, Skuse, Hyam (Bishop 71), Bru (Douglas 84), Feeney, Sears, McGoldrick. Unused: Gerken, Foley, Bishop, Dozzell, Douglas, Pringle, Pitman. Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire). Att: 30,505 (Town: 329).

Photo: Action Images

Mick_Mills_Tache added 18:22 - Apr 23 Monkey_blue...are you Mick McCarthy in disguise?
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Bluetone added 18:30 - Apr 23 nah Mick Mills that's Essex 57. You'll see he will disappear when McCarthy leaves
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prebbs007 added 18:35 - Apr 23 Thank god for Bart. Since he got back in the team he has been send sand saved the dinosaurs skin almost every game. Why oh why did you pick Gerk the Berk ahead of him. Once again we worked hard but have so little quality in our ranks it's embarrassing. Still send team out to not lose rather than win games and still so far away from a promotion chasing squad. Big big changes needed.

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blueherts added 18:43 - Apr 23 It is a negative mind set MM has that is just so depressing And we wonder why he has no cup success cos he cannot go out to win games just set up not to lose Two DMs MICK
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essex57 added 18:52 - Apr 23 Blue tone sorry to disappoint you I've supported the town for 38 years through thick and thin I won't be going anywhere I do hope Mccarthy is still here next season though.
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1psw1ch added 19:21 - Apr 23 Crap f,cking season I don't care ,,,longest club in this division anyway welcome villa to portman road
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SheptonMalletBlue added 19:23 - Apr 23 I can't stand the thought of Mcarthy in charge for another season, especially with no change in playing staff. I feel I'm in a very bad dream with no chance of waking up!!!! Personally I think we're in the worst period of our clubs history, and Mcarthy couldn't give a damned!!
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Pip50 added 19:47 - Apr 23 Looking forward to the progress quote 22 league wins last season 18 one before 16 so for this!
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MonterreyBlue added 19:54 - Apr 23 Am sorry but for the 329 amazing Town fans that made the journey, with nothing to play for, we try (and succeed) in getting a (pointless) point, im not sure they would agree its a "good point" Where is the logic and entertainment value in that? End of the season, nothing to play for, at least TRY and entertain.
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righty added 20:11 - Apr 23 McCarthy hope you watched fa cup semi that's how to play football not the rubbish you serve up and also the F A cup is about passion you show none McCarthy out
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SuttonColdfieldBlue added 20:15 - Apr 23 On the train home. Just like to say well done to the boys for the battling performance from the lads. Thought Bru and Digby played outstanding. The season may by over but Ipswich till I die.
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Minneapolis_ITFC added 21:05 - Apr 23 This could be the best score of the season thus far, but all too little too late. Never imagined we'd get anything from the trip there but somehow it ended without score. Pleased with today and take a certain amount of pride in holding one of the very best teams this league can offer to a drawn game at their own venue, but it doesn't make up for a long list of poor, garbage and uninspiring games that have come before it. I still want McCarthy to vacate his position : one improved result amid a season of bullsh-t will not change my desire in seeing relevant names out of the club and finding employment elsewhere. If this result had occurred some six or eight weeks back we could have improved on it and it would have been good for morale but once again, it's just scraps from the Kings table and ultimately isn't going to mean much. Maybe Middlesbrough deserved to win or missed a lot of opportunity but on this day, this one score alone has brought a small level of relief and pleasure as we reach the end games of this very disappointing season.

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timkatieadamitfc added 21:21 - Apr 23 @monkey-blue,to some extent I can see your point and even agree on some,but why I think most people are fed up now is the type of boring,negative,zero entertainment,defensive clueless brand of football we seem to be playing nowadays.THIS HAS NEVER BEEN THE IPSWICH WAY? If we played well,attacked and had a good go but lost then that's one thing,yes fans would be disappointed but it is easier to swallow, playing 3 feckin defensive midfielders against TEAMS in the bottom 6 is asking for it. I have never said anything bad against MM (I happen to think that with the budget he he has had in his tenure,he has done a great job) but with the 1/constant picking of favourites 2/ reluctance to play players in their correct positions and most of all 3/ dull,negative, hoof ball style of play I am now starting to think that he has taken this team as far as he can. However I would love to see him given as much money as RK was given and see what would happen,after all he did get Sunderland and wolves up.COYB

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Mick_Mills_Tache added 21:37 - Apr 23 Timkatieadamitfc...just because he got Sunderland and wolves up, it doesn't mean he's any more likely to get us up than Joe Bloggs off the street. Those promotions are in the past. They mean nothing to us. Roy Keane got Sunderland promoted and didn't do so well here. Jewell also got two teams promoted in the forms of Bradford and Wigan and he also done wonders here, didn't he? Oh...

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Cloddyseedbed added 22:12 - Apr 23 If we were only half way through the season playing like we do now, we would be candidates for dropping down a division. We don't look like beating anyone. MM's team, his players, his tactics. This football is not working, big changes needed.
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timkatieadamitfc added 23:01 - Apr 23 A fair point @ mick mills tache. All I was saying though was that with a decent budget(despite what most of us think of him) he is a decent manager,who has got teams promoted.I am struggling also as to who we would go for as our next manager(who would actually want to come here)
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BrettenhamBlue added 23:09 - Apr 23 A good result coming from atrociously boring football. Bart MOM yet again and that kind of sums up our season. If I was the manager of a rich club I would be looking very carefully at signing up Bart for next season.
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Jimmy86 added 23:13 - Apr 23 This result would have been great IF and a big if we had been in better form in the last few weeks. Can't knock a point away at Middlesborough. I was fearing the worst and was more thinking how many would we actually concede. Sounds like we rode our luck a bit and defended resolutely. Our season petered out when we blew a 2 goal lead against Bolton. Big summer ahead for Evans and Mick

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wayway added 23:41 - Apr 23 Monkey blue: How much longer have we got to be grateful to Boring Billy for saving us from relegation? It didn't do Norwich any harm going down to Div 1. And as for this ' be careful what you wish for crap, I wish for attractive football played on the ground and overseen by a young, fresh manager with fredh ideas and not some ageing, boring, stubborn dinosaur who should have been pensioned off years ago

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timkatieadamitfc added 23:59 - Apr 23 @wayway. Who would you like to see in charge?
1

mkbobby added 06:34 - Apr 24 This season has felt like being slowly strangled by a boa constrictor with this turgid football that has been played and it,s funny to think that next season that we will be playing a team that we once had a mighty battle with for the first division title over 25 yrs ago "oh for those days again" . On the note of who we could get to takeover from the footballing dinosaur take a look at the opposing dugout next Saturday " I give you Karl Robinson " a manager who has done his job at mk dons on a tighter budget that our own club but have still managed to play a better brand of football he could be the one to take us back to the halcyon days of burley and Robson just a thought or am I dreaming

2

warktheline added 07:20 - Apr 24 We went there with no intent, sat back, and all said a prayer for the final whistle! Good point my a**e!!!!!!!!
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SpiritOfJohn added 08:13 - Apr 24 @mkbobby, amazingly our ding-dong with Villa was 35 years ago. Despite beating them three times we lost out in the title race. However, Villa were not a bad side back then as they won the European cup in the following season - edging out Bayern Munich 1-0 in the final.
2

budgieplucker added 08:23 - Apr 24 The harsh reality is that playing good football in this division doesn't guarantee success. Karl Robinsons MK Dons will be back in division 1 next year. When Tony Mowbray was with WBA in this league he said it took him some time and many painful lessons to realise that he had to modify the style of football to get out of the championship. Mogga might be another candidate for a new manager but even Coventry have failed to make the Division 1 playoffs this year. Then there is Neil Lennon, did a great job at Celtic. Bolton supposedly played some good football this year, not sure if that is true but just to show that even with a manager with some pedigree doesn't necessarily mean the unthinkable can happen in this league. On reflection yesterday's point was a very well earned one with a slice of good fortune. Mcarthys philosophy away from home generally works because the pressure is on the home team to take the game to the opposition. Frustrating the home team and hitting them with counter attacking. Yes it has let us down of late but two away points against two teams in form Wendy and Boro by normal accounts would have been acceptable results. Let's face it, it has been our away form that has kept us in a challenging top six position until recently. Clearly we can't continue to play the way we have been at home as there becomes a point (reached with many already) where this is unacceptable and those on tight budgets have to for their sanity utilise their cash else where. 30 quid plus goes a long way to taking the missus and kids out for a treat or pub meal. Two things strike me. The football we play has been less effective at home because some of the teams coming to Portman Road are playing us at our own game and trying to neutralise us. Two teams playing spoiling tactics is a recipe for a crap game of football. To be fair one or two of the teams have come here with the intent of trying to play us off the park. The 4 4 2 with two winger experiment has failed. This idea in the Mcarthy mold has tried to put the creative elements on the flanks to the expense of automatically playing two defensive central midfielders. There were glimpses that this was going to work largely down to Ryan Fraser who for a period looked our most dangerous and effective player. But in my mind a very talented 17 year old footballer from Arsenal failed to cut the mustard at this level. As all youngsters are, they are learning the game and inconsistent. Those who therefore crave to see our team packed with young hopefuls would I believe be changing their minds when inevitable the results would reflect the more harsh reality of the Championship. I think Ryan Fraser would have been just as successful playing in a 3 up front. For a spell last year we played a high pressing game (similar to what Klopp is trying to achieve at Liverpool) . This was more defending from the front. In the first half of the play off semi at Carrow Road last year we silenced the budgies with this style of play with very little hoof ball attached to it. Now the missing ingredients for me this year have been Bishop and Bru. Both who I believe are catalyst for us to be able to play that sort of game and keep the ball on the deck for long periods. The signings of Douglas and AMN have I believe completely upset the balance here. The former a seasoned and very hard working professional, the other a talented youngster but not ready for the rigours of the Championship. Players of Teddy Bishop quality are not easy to find nor perhaps even Kevin Bru who has also had some off games alongside spells of injury. But it is the failure of ME and MM to provide adequate back up and competion in these two types of roles that has continually forced us into playing the negative style that we see. Ironically I actually think MM started the season with intent to provide a better brand of football. Whilst Leicester as an exception have proven that 4 4 2 isn't dead in the modern game you have to have the right players to make it work. I think Mick has for far too long been in love with this formation with many failed wingers and an abundance of defensive central midfielders brought to the club at the expense of looking for the right types of players to be able to adapt to a more modern game.

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blueherts added 08:46 - Apr 24 Budgiepluck good points My problem with MM and ME especially since Jan and you could aim this at both past two seasons when we were in a great position at xmas with a chance to press on (I am not saying spend millions)but maybe add some cover we have failed to do so Yes we got in the play offs last season, more by luck than our own doing This Jan we were arguably in better position but in Greater need of a couple of additions due to injuries But MM insists no one out there better- really ? And then ME 'rewards MM with a nice 2 year deal ' for what exactly ? Surely wait to end of season I know many on here back MM but please someone come and defend the following based on his above assertions no one out there better Just look at our Aug to Dec form and goals scored vs Jan to Apr (when it REALLY matters ) Any thoughts Oh and finally when some say be careful what you wish for or name someone else who can do it I would say Watford got up with an unknown managwe to our league .Derby and Sheffield Weds doing OK with a couple that have little or no champion experience We have tried 'previous form' managers in RK PJ and now MM and please show me the progress in last 2 years and even last few months

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