FREE-FLOWING but fragile on Boxing Day; disciplined but devoid of a cutting edge last night. Middlesbrough’s two festive home games might both have ended in a draw, but they could hardly have been more different in the way they were played out.

Three days on from their second-half capitulation against Sheffield Wednesday, Michael Carrick’s side rediscovered their defensive resilience as they successfully contained a Burnley team that are just a point outside the automatic-promotion positions.

The Teessiders restricted their opponents to hardly any opportunities, and when stand-in goalkeeper Tom Glover did err, palming a cross into the path of Josh Brownhill, Dael Fry came to the Australian’s rescue with a superb block.

The trade-off was that Boro were far less adventurous at the other end than they usually are, limiting the number of players they were throwing into the Burnley box and barely creating anything of note themselves as a result.

James Trafford clawed away a decent second-half effort from Finn Azaz, but for the first time in seven matches, Boro failed to trouble the scorer. The point still lifted them back into the play-off positions, though, and after the trauma of the second half against Sheffield Wednesday, perhaps a reduction in attacking output was a price worth paying for a greater degree of calmness and composure. If nothing else, at least it proved Carrick was able to react to what went wrong in the previous game.

Given the way in which injuries and suspensions have ravaged the Boro squad in the last couple of weeks, it can also be argued that a draw with a promotion rival is a creditable enough way in which to sign off for 2024. If Boro are in touch with Burnley in May, they will almost certainly be at the heart of the promotion picture.

Burnley boast the best defensive record in the Championship by some distance, having only conceded nine goals in 23 matches prior to last night’s game, so it was never going to be a night when Boro created chances at will.

With Burnley’s central midfielders, Josh Cullen and Josh Laurent, both sitting relatively deep to help protect their back four, the home side were denied both time and space in the final third.

Ben Doak can wriggle his way out of pretty much anywhere, but even the teenage Liverpool loanee was struggling to get much change out of Burnley left-back Bashir Humphreys, such was the quality of the visitors’ defensive work.

Doak finally got beyond his man midway through the first half, but while he stood up a decent cross to the back post, Emmanuel Latte Lath had two defenders pressuring him and was only able to head over the crossbar.

Boro’s defence was looking equally as resolute at that stage, with George Edmundson having returned to partner Fry at centre-half in the absence of the suspended Rav van den Berg.

Both Edmundson and Fry made important first-half blocks from crosses from Jaidon Anthony, who was getting a fair amount of joy up against Neto Borges on the Clarets’ right-hand side. Anthony was involved in a slick passing move that ended with Laurent being released into the right of the box, but Glover was quick off his line to shut down the midfielder.

The only contentious moment of the first half came shortly after the half-hour mark, with referee Josh Smith turning down Boro’s appeals as Latte Lath tried to force his way into the area. Latte Lath barged his way between Burnley’s two centre-halves to reach a long ball from Edmundson, but was then brushed over by CJ Egan-Riley as he shaped to break into the box.

It didn’t really look like a foul, but in the ensuing confusion, Delano Burgzorg managed to rob the ball off Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford as he tried to mop up outside his penalty area. Burgzorg was able to get a shot away, but it was a tame effort that trundled wide of the post.

The effort summed up Burgzorg’s night, with the Dutchman mixing moments of real excitement with other occasions when his decision-making really let him down. The summer addition from Mainz has shown enough in the first half of the season to justify the decision to sign him following last season’s loan spell at Huddersfield, but all too often, a lack of end product undermines the more positive elements of his play.

In truth, it was a night when none of the attackers on display really sparkled, with defences very much on top. That said however, Boro might well have fallen behind just before the hour mark had it not been for a piece of superb defending from Dael Fry.

Glover made his first mistake of the night when he palmed a hanging cross from Cullen straight into the path of Brownhill, who was in space in the 18-yard box. Brownhill thought he had scored when he fired at goal, but Fry did superbly to get his chest in the way of the shot. The defender had to get his intervention spot on given that he risked giving away a penalty for handball, but his body position was perfect to enable him to legally keep the ball out.

Trafford clawed away a decent effort from Azaz at the other end after the Boro midfielder had wriggled into space on the left of the box, before Burnley wasted the best chance of the game with 14 minutes remaining.

Brownhill was completely unmarked as Anthony pulled the ball back into his path, but the midfielder leaned back and side-footed over from 12 yards out.