Not good enough – Monk

Garry Monk admitted that Middlesbrough fell comfortably below their own standards in the scoreless encounter with Preston North End at the Riverside.

Indeed had it not been for an inspired display from home goalkeeper Darren Randolph, Boro would actually have been reflecting on a third league defeat in five games.

“That was not the performance we wanted,” Monk conceded to BBC Sport. “We are trying to set a high standard for the players and the club – and we feel disappointment.

“They were first to every header, every tackle,” he added. “The positive is that we still take a point and got a clean sheet. The point could be valuable, but we wanted three. But I think we were probably lucky to get the result we did.”