‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

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‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

Gary Rowett is expecting to face a tough test against second-place Middlesbrough when the pair face off at Riverside Stadium in midweek.

2026-02-24T07:30+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

24 Feb, 2026

‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

Gary Rowett is expecting to face a tough test against second-place Middlesbrough when the pair face off at Riverside Stadium in midweek.

Sam Jones

2026-02-24T07:30+00:00

‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

Gary Rowett is expecting to face a tough test against second-place Middlesbrough when the pair face off at Riverside Stadium in midweek.

Sam Jones

2026-02-24T07:30+00:00

‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

Gary Rowett is expecting to face a tough test against second-place Middlesbrough when the pair face off at Riverside Stadium in midweek.

Sam Jones

2026-02-24T07:30+00:00

‘A Different Challenge’ – Rowett On Boro Test

Gary Rowett is expecting to face a tough test against second-place Middlesbrough when the pair face off at Riverside Stadium in midweek.

Sam Jones

2026-02-24T07:30+00:00

The Foxes are back on the road in the Sky Bet Championship for the second time in three days, with Kim Hellberg’s side our next opponents this Tuesday evening (7:45pm GMT kick-off).

Coming off the back of securing a point against Stoke City, ending a run of five successive defeats prior to his arrival, Rowett reflected on that draw and how we’ll look to approach the trip to Teesside.

‘We tried to win it’

Winks scored our second in Stoke.

A 2-2 scoreline was the outcome of a topsy-turvy encounter in Staffordshire on Saturday, in which Leicester came from a goal down before holding the lead until late on, only for a hatful of stoppage-time chances to go begging, unable to find the winner.

“Stoke started well, they put us under pressure, put balls wide and we struggled to get out and defend those moments,” the 51-year-old commented. “Them scoring so early shook us a little bit, I can understand that.

“The team have had some big results go against them in recent weeks when they felt there was a win there, notably in the Southampton game.

“We were nervous and went away from some of the things we’d worked on, which was frustrating. I was a little bit disappointed with the nature of both goals, which were crosses into the box and free moments to score.

“We then started to get Skippy and Winsky on the ball, they’re both really good players, and started to have good spells of possession. From that point onwards, I was really pleased with a lot that we did, we had a lot of control.

“If you look at the end of the game, when we concede the second goal, in recent weeks and months, there was a little bit of me wondering whether the players would drop into shape and maybe let them put balls in the box, because clearly that was something they wanted to do from the start of the game and cause us problems that way.

“They’ve perhaps seen where we’ve conceded that it’s been a problem for us, but I was actually really pleased with the reaction of the players late on. We’ve gone the other way and created four big chances.

“It’s easy to say we should have won the game, but on the balance of the chances, there was every chance we could have. The players’ disappointment at the end showed how they wanted to win the game. We end up taking a point, which I’m not overly disappointed with, but we tried to win it.”

‘Be more solid’

Mukasa had a hand in both goals.

Divine Mukasa registered a goal and an assist against Stoke and Rowett was asked about his contributions, as well as the importance of the partnership between Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks.

“He (Mukasa) was excellent. Young Jeremy [Monga] started as well. You’ve got a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old in the starting line-up away at Stoke, which is never an easy thing to do. Early in the game we struggled to get them on the ball.

“Divine has got such a lovely balance and elegance to him. [In the] first half, I felt he was trying to play things a little bit too quickly, little ones around the corner that didn’t quite come off and then [in the] second half he really settled down.

“By getting him in that opposite pocket and switching play to him, he can then feed Stephy [Mavididi] and they linked quite well in the second half. They caused a lot of problems for Stoke. It was a really positive second half, he took his goal well as well.”

Speaking more on his midfield pairing, Rowett added: “Having Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks in there, when the ball comes into them, [having] a little bit of calm to give us that composure.

“I think that’s going to be super important for us in some of those moments in matches where maybe things aren’t going as well, to keep the game alive for us and feed the forwards. We certainly have to be a little bit more solid.”

‘Work really hard’

We'll have another big following in Middlesbrough.

Given the position that we find ourselves, sitting 22nd in the table, one point from safety, Rowett urged the players to show more of the same desire that he saw at bet365 Stadium on Saturday, despite the quick turnaround between away matches.

“We know we’re in a tough spot; we were in one when I came in,” he explained. “We’ve got to work really hard to get out of it. That’s my only focus.

“It’s a great league; it’s an exciting league to be a part of. Two away games back-to-back is always a bit of a challenge in this league, but we’ve got to dust ourselves off when we come in and make sure we’re recovered.

“We’ve got all the facilities in the world with the training ground to make sure we do that. We’ve got no excuses. That’s part of the game. I played in an era where you ended up playing 50 games with cup games and you basically played every minute of every game.

“Your job is to play 90 minutes, keep doing it away from home, hard yards, running back. The game isn’t always how you want it to look but that’s what good teams do.

“That’s what it’s all about, putting performances in and showing a little bit of resilience. I’m looking forward to seeing if the players can go and do it again. It’s a different challenge on Tuesday night, so let’s see how we handle it.”

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