Former Middlesbrough fullback Danny Mills thinks Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate must mix up his tactics if he is to succeed at the Riverside Stadium.

The Teessiders are currently battling against relegation, as things stand, with nine games remaining in the season, and Mills feels that his former teammate needs to learn from how another rookie manager, Frank Lampard, dealt with managing in the Championship:

“You have to mix it up, just as Frank Lampard found out at Derby when he tried to play an open and attractive style of football and got smashed 4-1 at Pride Park by Leeds. Then it was a case of ‘oh, hang on a minute,’ let’s re-think this and they reached the play-off final.”

“Like Frank, Woody will learn from his mistakes and that’s why first and foremost, as far as Boro are concerned, it’s all about trying to survive this season.”

Lampard went off to manage Chelsea after his first season with Derby, but Woodgate is finding life a lot tougher in the hot seat at Middlesbrough.

It’s probably unfair to say that Woodgate hasn’t changed things up, with the Boro manager having employed Rudy Gestede more regularly as a target man in recent games.

However, it is true that they have conceded more goals than they would have liked, whilst also finding it difficult to score at the other end. Whether the enforced break in football will allow Woodgate to reflect and come back with a better plan to get the club out of trouble, we shall have to wait and see.