Why Riley McGree's early injury proved so decisive in Middlesbrough's Blackburn defeat

Middlesbrough's three-game winning run ended on Wednesday evening as they lost 1-0 to Blackburn Rovers at the Riverside, in controversial circumstances.

In a game lacking attacking quality from either side, it looked to be heading for a bore draw when Todd Cantwell laid the ball on for Dom Hyam to tap-in. However, the Rovers midfielder was seen to be in an offside position when scoring the goal - a fact not picked up on by the linesman at the time.

Proving costly for Boro, their winning run ended as they now must look ahead to Saturday's clash with Hull City where they will attempt to quickly bounce back. We analyse the Blackburn defeat with key points such as the game-changing moment involving Riley McGree and more.

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The game-changing moment

Boro were already without numerous key players for the game as Seny Dieng, Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris were absent again, having also missed out at Oxford on Saturday. Added to the list as illness afflicts the Boro squad, Boro were also without Finn Azaz and Delano Burgzorg.

In Tommy Conway and Riley McGree, Michael Carrick was introducing two very good players which should have given Boro more than enough quality on the pitch to win the game. It's for that exact reason that the Boro boss didn't want to use the absentees as an excuse for not winning the game.

But make no mistake, they were impactful - in particular the absence of Finn Azaz. As far as the game-changing moment was concerned though, that came in the 19th minute when Riley McGree went down for a second time in quick succession and was forced off with what Carrick said after was a dead leg.

Boro had actually started the game well. But the physios saw more action in those opening 20 minutes than the two goalkeepers saw across the whole 90. It meant the game struggled for any kind of flow, with Boro most impacted as they struggled to build any early rhythm or momentum in the game.

And with McGree going off injured, and also missing Azaz, they lacked a link player between midfield and attack. Swarmed in the middle of the pitch, they didn't move it through the lines quick enough, with Conway ultimately unable to offer the same positivity he had in the number ten role earlier in the campaign. They didn't have anyone showing deeper for the give and goes like Azaz does.

Boro's best player

It was one of those nights where too many players were well below par, culminating in Boro being unable to match their recent form, or come even close to it. As a defence, Boro restricted Blackburn to very little, with Sol Brynn not having a notable save to make before the goal that shouldn't have been.

In that sense, you could highlight the performance of either centre-back. Nitpicking, George Edmundson was guilty of one or two sloppy passes. So if you were to pick one, Matt Clarke would get the nod for a solid display. To say he didn't have much competition on the night would be an understatement, though.

The positive

Results elsewhere meant this result didn't prove too costly. Boro stayed sixth in the Championship despite the defeat and can easily put this one behind them as the result of missing too many key players, with the consequence of that making them look a little unbalanced and disjointed. As long as they quickly rebound on Saturday, this won't have hurt promotion hopes too much.

The negative

While the absentees makes for an easy excuse - it was one, for obvious reasons, that Carrick didn't want to use. In bringing Tommy Conway and Riley McGree in for Delano Burgzorg and Finn Azaz, it was, on paper at least, another sign of Boro's strength in depth.

The two players coming into the side have more than enough quality to have made for continuation as far as Boro were concerned, but it didn't quite work out that way. Lacking the link-up play in the holes from Azaz, McGree looked to fill that gap early on, before his early injury left Boro lacking that crucial connection.

That, in turn, meant Boro were unable to get the ball to Ben Doak at the opportune moments as he was regularly doubled up on and struggled to have his usual impact. Trying to mix things up in the second half and use the opposite flank more often, Micah Hamilton's struggles in a Boro shirt continued as he looked lacking in confidence and wasn't able to do much when he did get the ball. Carrick pleaded with Borges to take the ball forward more, but he too often found himself turning back towards goal and therefore unable to make the desired impact.

The verdict

Boro have built a strong squad of depth for a reason, but any team would find it difficult with so many influential players missing. Azaz's absence in particular impacted the balance of Boro's build-up play. In the absence of Hackney and Morris, they lacked a midfielder who could naturally drive with the ball into the spaces they would usually pass the ball to Azaz in.

As such, this one can be put down to the absentees, and shouldn't lead to too much panic - though Boro will have to learn from this. They were a little unfortunate to lose given the circumstances of the winning goal, and there's an argument that, on a bad day, a point would have been a good result to take and move on. Bad days will happen, particularly given the number of absentees.

But Boro did have more than enough quality on the pitch to have done better. With it too early immediately after the game for Carrick to give any indication as to whether anyone will be back in time for Hull's visit on Saturday, Boro must prepare as though they have the same options available. And with Hull unlikely to be as kamikaze as they have been in recent weeks after sacking Tim Walter ahead of this one, they could find themselves needing to break down a low-block defence again, and they have to ensure they find the solutions easier in that one against a more fragile side than this dogged and determined Rovers outfit.