Next-day analysis after Middlesbrough’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town
12:22, 20 Apr 2026Updated 13:11, 20 Apr 2026
Aidan Morris of Middlesbrough speaks to referee Jarred Gillett following the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough(Image: Getty Images)
There are a range of emotions after Middlesbrough’s draw at Ipswich Town on Sunday, and anger is most definitely one.
Was Adilson Malanda maybe a little naive to grab George Hirst and give referee Jarred Gillett a decision to make? Yes, probably. Does that change the fact it was never a penalty? Absolutely not. But it kept with an officiating performance from the off that felt heavily-weighted towards the home side.
As many were quick to point out in the emotions at full-time, Gillett’s error to award Ipswich a penalty and gift them a route back into Sunday’s game hasn’t cost Boro automatic promotion though. The 11 games prior to that where Kim Hellberg’s side have managed just two wins have done far more damage.
Nevertheless, there can be no mistaking the fact that the controversial penalty that cost Boro two points and massive psychological victory at Ipswich could have much bigger ramifications. There’s no way of knowing for sure, but the impact a Boro win would have had on the promotion race felt significant. The momentum and mood on Teesside would have surely been completely transformed.
Alas, that’s gone now, and nothing will change that. While the gap to second remains only three points, and therefore not mathematically over with nine still to play for, the feeling now is that it will be play-offs for Boro. And in truth, Boro’s focus ahead of the final three regular games of the campaign should now probably shift to reflect that too.
And with that in mind, there should be far more positives for Boro to take from the draw at Ipswich, instead of dwelling too much on what might have been, and frustrations at the referee.
While Boro were under the cosh for much of the first half, and in many ways the makers of their problems due to their sloppiness in possession, they still limited a very good Ipswich side to very few clear chances.
With the scores level at 1-1 at half-time, Boro were completely transformed in the second half. Kieran McKenna’s view that his side had been the better side for longer periods of the game did not match with the game that most appeared to watch.
And that’s to Boro and Kim Hellberg’s credit, because whatever the head coach changed at the break, the players implemented it well, and Boro looked like Boro again. Having struggled with it in the first half, they broke through the press with ease in the second half, setting themselves away on a number of dangerous counter attacks.
Of course, as expected, this came as Boro finally faced a side willing to actually take the game to them. Boro had to do their fair share of defending. In turn though, that created the space which Boro began to exploit again. Can they take this into Wednesday against a side likely to sit deep again?
Problems with confidence of late began to dissipate, which should offer hope. There can be no doubting the impact that goals for David Strelec and Tommy Conway could make on that front. It’s the first time all season that Boro’s two main strikers have both scored from open play in the same game.
Just in general, Boro players must take so much heart from how they’ve played, and so nearly won, at Portman Road. Only one other side has won there this season. That’s a testament to the quality that Ipswich have in their squad.
With Boro missing so many key players – none more so than Championship Player of the Season Hayden Hackney – their bench in comparison to their rivals, who benefit from the £40m-plus advantage of parachute payments, was plain to see.
Chuba Akpom didn’t even get on the pitch. Jack Clarke, Dan Neil, George Hirst, Anis Mahmeti and Sindre Egeli probably walk into the majority of Championship sides’ starting XIs.
Boro didn’t just compete, they probably deserved to win. And with switching focus on the play-offs in mind, where Ipswich might yet be a potential opponent too, they should take huge heart from that fact.
Boro boss Hellberg said after: “We can all see the result, that’s the easiest thing. You open a newspaper and see it was 3-1 and say, ‘Oh, it was 3-1’. You can say, ‘Well we need to score more’ or whatever.
“But you need to look at the game and see how it went. Sometimes, that’s terrible to hear as a supporter – ‘But we created this or this’ – but that’s how I have to try to work. I have to look at how we progress in all those things.
“Even if we don’t get the result we want. Through that, I think the performance was the main thing. From that, did I think the performance was good enough to win [at Ipswich]? I did. I think we should have. But we didn’t, so we have to go from it and keep working.”
Dael Fry and Callum Brittain react after Middlesbrough’s draw at Ipswich Town(Image: PA)
He added: “Playing like that, against such a good side and with so many of our own key players away, was very impressive. We were brave, and I think that tells us a lot about this group.
“We created more chances than the opposition and conceded less, and that’s very impressive. We just need to keep working in that way.”
After such a difficult run, where confidence has undoubtedly been hit, that’s why focus should now switch to play-offs, even if that might sound a little defeatist to some.
The goal, regardless, will still be to win the remaining three games. Ultimately, the games against Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and Wrexham should now be about rebuilding confidence, regaining momentum and getting injured players back and as up to speed as possible for the play-off campaign, while also protecting others to ensure they don’t suffer any costly injuries.
In doing so, Boro will still aim to win nine points from nine. The likelihood is, that won’t be enough to secure second place to go up automatically now, however. If by some miracle it is, then great.
But more important now is focusing on those play-offs and trying to head into them in as best shape as Boro possibly can. The Ipswich draw should be the perfect springboard for Boro to ensure they do that. As frustrating as the result was, the performance should provide confidence.
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