Chris Wilder needs a momentum-turner as Middlesbrough face another crunch game at Coventry

A big visiting following of 2,649 Boro fans travelled to the Midlands in hope last September and saw their side well beaten 2-0. It was the prelude to fair bit of angst.

Warnock left the club less than two months later.

Wilder is also starting to come under increasing scrutiny from the Boro ranks. The Teessiders' flat season thus far badly needs a catalyst and a positive result at the home of Sky Blues would not just be cathartic after last autumn, but significant in the here and now.

Wilder, whose Boro side are away from home in seven of their next 11 fixtures, said: "There is a lot of football to be played between now and the World Cup and we all understand it, we need a positive set of results.

"I keep saying, and I’m maybe boring everyone, but I don’t think there is a hell of a lot wrong in terms of performances; the results certainly don’t stack up statistically.

"But we need to turn those into good results. I was employed to win games of football and at the moment I’m not enjoying it because my team are not winning games of football.

"We’ve lost a bit of momentum but it’s a test of a player, a test of the coaching staff and a manager, and most importantly, a test of a football club and how connected and how together they are."

Much of the past week has been dominated by renewed speculation linking Wilder with a move for Bournemouth – he was installed as the short-priced bookies’ favourite - and potentially widening a schism between him and sections of the club's support.

He continued: "It’s nonsense what’s happened. I dealt with that speculation a month ago and I put it to bed, it’s come from nowhere and it’s not needed by anybody. I’ve just laughed it off.

“There are all sorts of things and I think that’s what happens when teams don’t get a result that maybe they are expected to get.

"Sometimes you just have to deal with the noise and nonsense that comes. If I was on social media, I would have put it to bed as soon as it came out.”