Wheater laments late leveller

Middlesbrough and England defender David Wheater admitted it was “terrible” for his side to concede a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Blackburn.

The visitors had taken the lead in the Premier League clash through Alfonso Alves only for Benni McCarthy to head home Brett Emerton’s corner in the 94th minute.

Wheater said of the late equaliser: “It’s terrible, it don’t know how it happens. We should defend at corners.”

Middlesbrough had a first half goal from Tuncay Sanli wiped out because of a marginal offside decision.

Wheater added on Setanta Sports 1: “I think we did deserve the three points today.

“It’s a great goal, he does it every day in training,” Wheater said of Alves’ goal.

“They piled everyone in there for their corner. It was a good finish to be fair to the lad.”

Alves added: “I think it’s a good goal, it was a good pass from Gary O’Neil.”

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate praised his team for the way they bounced back from a 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea last time out despite the late equaliser against Blackburn.

“It’s always painful but I think we’ve given a performance which restored some pride after last week,” Southgate told Setanta Sports 1.

“There were lots of positives to take form it even though we were disappointed at the end. We wanted them to respond in the right way.

“I’ve got to be pleased with the players, they couldn’t have given more than they gave.”

After seeing a replay of Tuncay’s disallowed effort, Southgate added: “I don’t need to say too much, the picture speaks for itself.

“It’s a fantastic finish, he’s a top player.”