Woodgate: Boro trio wanted to play in QPR game

Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate insisted he still has the backing of his players after his struggling side earned a point at QPR.

Boro, third from bottom of the Championship and now without a win in nine matches, drew 2-2 at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where Britt Assombalonga scored both their goals.

Woodgate’s squad has been ravaged by injuries but he was boosted by George Friend, Darren Randolph and Ashley Fletcher making themselves available to play despite not being fully fit.

Keeper Randolph, who was this week included in the Republic of Ireland squad, produced a string of excellent saves.

Woodgate said: “Randolph was out, George Friend was back in training but I didn’t think he’d be playing, Fletcher out – they come and knock on my door on Friday morning.

“They said ‘Gaffer, I want to play. I’m not 100% fit but I want to play for you’. That’s top.

“The situation we’re going through at the minute, it’s difficult and they could have taken the easy option and not played.

“Darren could have said ‘I’m not 100%, I want to wait for Ireland’. He played today. George Friend played after three training sessions. Ashley Fletcher had a calf strain and played.

“They want to play. They want to play for us. That was really positive. It shows what the players are like – they want to stick together and they want to play for me.

“For the situation we’re in, there’s no negativity. Everyone’s positive and that’s really important for me.”

Boro had not scored in their previous four matches and Assombalonga had only scored once since August.

But Woodgate said: “I’ve said all along that he will score goals.“Every striker goes through patches and confidence dips. Stick with it. He’s a goalscorer.

“Stay confident because he will score goals. Back him no matter what. No matter what situation he’s going through, I back my number nine.”