Dael Fry says Middlesbrough’s two performances against Burnley gives him belief that they can be promotion contenders this season, as he targets a more consistent second half of the season in the new year.

A goalless draw on Sunday evening followed the 1-1 draw with the Clarets at Turf Moor just four weeks ago. This latest draw cost Burnley the chance to end the calendar year second in the Championship, with Scott Parker's side among the promotion favourites this season.

Boro are also hoping to keep their noses in the promotion picture having moved up to sixth with the battling point at the Riverside. And after the draw, Fry revealed his confidence in Boro’s chances - a point he hammered home to his team-mates in the dressing room after the game.

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Fry said: “Coming off the pitch tonight, I’ve just said to the lads there in the dressing room, ‘I think we’re a better team than them based on the two recent games’. Burnley are a good team in this division, so there’s no reason why we can’t use this to really kick-on and beat any side in the division.

“When I was younger I used to check the table all the time to see where we were and stuff. Now, I haven’t even checked the table because we have to take it one game at a time. Every game matters in this division and it can so quickly change. Anything can happen. We just need to take each game of the season as it comes and hopefully keep improving as the season goes on.

“In the new year, hopefully we can kick on, be more consistent and put more points on the board. People keep saying, ‘On our day we’ll beat anybody’ but we need to make sure that it’s our day every day.

“That’s a good result and a clean sheet against a very good side in the division and it gives our lads confidence to know we can go on and compete with these teams. Going into 2025, I feel really confident, and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent.”

The draw with Burnley saw Boro give a much better showing from a defensive standpoint after recent struggles. Going in, they’d conceded three goals in three of their last four games - which was particularly costly in draws against Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday when they were expected to win.

Only drawing with the Owls on Boxing Day after leading 3-0 at half-time, Fry admits it was a real focus of the players to put things right against Burnley. But for Fry, they might have still come out of it empty-handed though, with the Teessider quite literally putting his body on the line to deny Josh Brownhill a goal in the second half.

“It was a much better performance,” he said. “Particularly as a defender, what happened on Boxing Day hurt us; we were all devastated and knew it wasn’t acceptable. We knew coming into this one that we had to be a lot stronger. It’s not just the back four, it’s the whole team, and I think all the lads put in a good shift tonight. They’re a top side in the division, so we knew we had to be on it. There’s no reason we can’t do that every game.

“The block is just me doing my job. I want to help the team get clean sheets and sometimes, as a defender, you have to put your body on the line. It’s not just me making the block tonight though, the whole back four played their part, and Tom Glover as well, who’s come in after not much football and done really well.

“I remember he sort of scuffs the shot which gives me time to adjust and get my arms out of the way. That’s what I’m there to do as a defender. Whether it’s Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City coming up, or whoever, we’ve all just got to make sure we’re 100% committed. Our shape was good tonight and we limited them to a few chances. At the other end, we have a lot of firepower and good options coming off the bench as well.”