'Fuming' Mark Robins demands Stoke City players show some bottle
Mark Robins admitted he was fuming after Stoke City lost too many duels on the way to a tame defeat to an out-of-form Middlesbrough side.
Stoke have been beaten 3-1 at the bet365 Stadium by Middlesbrough, who had lost their five previous games, and they remain just five points above the relegation zone with 12 games left.
Robins knows there are lots of things to fix in the long-term but the only focus now is winning enough tackles to give themselves a chance of winning games and staying in the Championship.
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He said: "There is an absence of that I'm afraid. There's a lot that needs sorting out but the time will come later for talking about that. We've got 12 games left and we have to pick up enough points to stay in the division and we've got to win some tackles. We've got to win some tackles.
"We can talk about tactics and we can talk about running but it's about the physical thing and the desire to go and win some duels. If you do that...
"They won 27 and they had more possession! We won 15 or something. Brilliant. But we've lost the really important ones in the middle of the pitch, conceded chances and they end up sticking the ball in the net.
"They were there for the taking. They are lacking confidence and they're absolutely delighted they were playing Stoke City tonight and I'm fuming with it. I'll never give excuses and I have to take results on the chin, it's my responsibility. We need better.
"We need better performances and better players at some point because it's patently obviously we're lacking in both of those and we need to have more of them showing that bottle. That's what I'm looking for."
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