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Morgan Whittaker hit the post for Middlesbrough Middlesbrough's home hoodoo against Blackburn continued as Rovers shackled Kim Hellberg's promotion contenders. Boro remain second in the Championship, but their winless run against Blackburn at the Riverside has extended to 12 games in all competitions, dating back 13 years. Hellberg's side were disappointing as they drew a second successive blank and the closest they came to scoring was when Morgan Whittaker hit the inside of the post. Rovers boss Valerien Ismael will be delighted with the point, as his side inch away from the relegation zone, and their tally of just 10 away goals conceded is the lowest in the Championship. Middlesbrough started positively, but the normally-reliable Whittaker was off colour. He shot straight at Boro old boy Aynsley Pears when he should have done better before he dragged another effort wide. Luck was also against Whittaker when he hit the inside of the near post with a left-foot shot. Blackburn had their moments as skipper Todd Cantwell fired into the side netting and former Rovers defender Callum Brittain deflected a Ryan Hedges shot wide before George Edmundson made a goal-saving challenge on Axel Henriksson. Yuki Ohashi then missed a great chance when he dragged his shot wide after being played through. Boro lost Alfie Jones and Matt Targett, while Ryoya Morishita went off injured for Blackburn, to worsen Hellberg's mood and the Teessiders badly lost their way in the second half. Blackburn had what few chances there were and Henriksson shot tamely at Sol Brynn before Matty Litherland also fired straight at the Boro goalkeeper. Boro's poor afternoon was summed up when skipper Hayden Hackney was booked for scything down Taylor Gardner-Hickman when he might easily have been dismissed. Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees: "I think as a game in total, it's very disappointing. I think you can see a group of players that work very hard. We talked about this after the game of handling the expectations of sometimes not having your best day and to try and handle those things when it's not going your way. "I think there's so much determination and much willingness to do good, to do right, to do everything for your team-mates, the fans, and I think today that became a little bit of a problem because we started to force things because we wanted it so bad. "That opened us up for counters and that opened up a lot of technical errors. I'm a bit disappointed with myself in handling that part of the game, in helping the players live up to expectations when we don't have the best of days. We didn't deserve more than a point. " This video can not be played Hellberg: Boro 'didn't deserve more than a point' against Blackburn Blackburn boss Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I think it was a great away game. It was as expected, a tough away game at Middlesbrough and I think they are maybe the best team we have faced this season. "I think we managed the first half well. They had some good situations, we had some luck, but we defended well. We knew we had to stick to the process to grow throughout the game. We had some great chances to score in the first half and I think we should have taken at least one. "The second half was brilliant, how we got control of the game. Our pressing was much better and we just needed some quality in the final third. We should have scored one goal at least to get our reward, but apart from that it was a very solid away performance and a second clean sheet in a row for us. " This video can not be played 'The second half [performance] was brilliant. We just needed more quality in the final third' - Ismael After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 26th December 2025 at 18: 55 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Kim Hellberg Formation: 4 - 2 - 2 - 2 Manager: Valérien Ismaël Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Manager: Kim Hellberg Formation: 4 - 2 - 2 - 2 Manager: Valérien Ismaël Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Middlesbrough won their last league game against Blackburn 2-0 in April but haven’t consecutively against Rovers since doing the double over them in 2012-13. Blackburn are unbeaten in their last 10 away league games against Middlesbrough (W3 D7), though their last defeat was a Boxing Day meeting in 2012. Middlesbrough have won nine of their last 11 home league games on Boxing Day, with both exceptions coming against Sheffield Wednesday (0-1 in 2018, 3-3 in 2024). Blackburn’s last away win on Boxing Day came against Middlesbrough in the Premier League in 2005. Since then they’ve failed to win any of their nine Boxing Day away games (D3 L6), losing the last six in a row. Middlesbrough have won 11 of their last 16 home league games (D3 L2), with their only two defeats in this time coming against last season’s champions Leeds in April and current league leaders Coventry in November. Match ends, Middlesbrough 0, Blackburn Rovers 0. Second Half ends, Middlesbrough 0, Blackburn Rovers 0. Morgan Whittaker (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Harry Pickering (Blackburn Rovers). Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Yuri Ribeiro replaces Todd Cantwell. Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Nathan Dlamini replaces Axel Henriksson. Corner, Middlesbrough. Conceded by Taylor Gardner-Hickman. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Delay in match because of an injury Todd Cantwell (Blackburn Rovers). Attempt missed. Yuki Ohashi (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Harry Pickering. Dael Fry (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Axel Henriksson (Blackburn Rovers). Attempt missed. Callum Brittain (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Morgan Whittaker. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Attempt missed. Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Todd Cantwell. Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough). Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Yuki Ohashi is caught offside. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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