Jonas Knudsen has admitted he was at fault for the first goal in Town’s 2-0 home defeat by high-flying Middlesbrough a week ago.

Knudsen said he has been forced to suffer several re-runs of the game’s pivotal moment as Boro, pegged back for long spells by Town’s attacking threat up till then, made the breakthrough within nine minutes of the restart through Uruguayan striker Christian Stuani’s back-post header.

Stuani climbed above Knudsen to get his head to the ball and beat Dean Gerken but the 23-year-old Dane also pointed out that the goal came about because Albert Adomah was allowed too much time and space to cross from the left.

Knudsen said: “It was a decent goal for Middlesbrough but it came from a lot of small mistakes by us.

“The player who crossed the ball was not put under any pressure but I also know — and I have seen this goal replayed many times since last Friday — that I should have cleared the ball.

“This is one of the things we have to look at and learn from. The next time I am in that situation I will try to make sure I deal with it differently.

“The manager is always encouraging me but he will also point out my mistakes. I like that because I know I still have a lot to learn.

“If the manager or one of his staff is critical it’s fine because you can learn from your mistakes. I actually like to hear him talk about what I do wrong because I can take the next steps to stop repeating my errors.

“If they only said ‘You are doing well’ all the time how would I learn? I prefer when they say ‘You can do better with this and that’ and show me what they mean. I am taking small steps all the time with the aim of getting better each time.

“Sometimes after games we will sit down and watch clips from our last game, which makes it easier for them to point out certain things that happened and easier for me to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It is perfect for me because I want to keep learning and improving.

“You can find mistakes in every single game and I believe you must make them in order to improve. I am eager to hear what the experienced people have to say and sometimes when we are discussing football I can learn a lot.”

Although disappointed that Town could not make their first-half pressure pay in the form of goals, Knudsen also believed there were several positives for Town to take from the game, their first defeat in seven league outings, as they head for MK Dons and a third successive appearance in front of the Sky Sports cameras tomorrow.

Knudsen added: “It was a tough game but we wanted to win it and we had some good chances to score in the first half, although they did as well. If we had just managed to take one of our chances I believe we could have gone on to win it.

“Everybody in football knows how goals can change games and when Middlesbrough got the first one that is what happened. We can still take a lot from our performance, especially in the first half when we played really well, and in some ways it was a typical Championship game.

“When we won 3-0 at Charlton in our previous game we were solid at the back and stopped Charlton from getting back into the game.

“We were able to score further goals on the counter-attack and that is what Middlesbrough did to us. We lost but we can still be pleased with several aspects of our game.”

Photo: Action Images

prebsa added 07:27 - Dec 11 No the way the first goal was stopped was by Gerken catching the ball in his own 6 yard box, like any other would have done *Bart*.
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LambethBlue added 07:54 - Dec 11 The cross should not have been a cross in the first place. Smith should be the one apologising for delegating all defensive responsibilities to the other defenders.
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algarvefan added 08:06 - Dec 11 Yeah right folks, moaning on here will help! The lad is admitting his part and is willing to learn, we all make mistakes.........move on.
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BlueKush added 09:29 - Dec 11 A catch is a big ask but if Gerken goes for the punch and gets anything on it there's no goal. Bart would've at least gone for it. Gerken just watched it.
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Daleyitfc added 09:48 - Dec 11 He doesn't appreciate that the 2nd goal was entirely his fault then, with another rubbish throw?
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Keaneish added 09:57 - Dec 11 Prebsa, with comments like that you devalue any future posts if you think Gerken has any blame for that goal. He's never going to get there with the flight of that ball to the far stick. Full backs job all day long.
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elalaer9 added 10:12 - Dec 11 @Daley I'm beginning to think I'd prefer to blame you than any player for either of the two goals of Friday, with your useless and unconstructive comments. Maybe it was the teams fault (as a whole), or perhaps it was Middlesbrough's fault.....at the end of the day, those toe-rags ran up the pitch with the ball and DELIBERATELY kicked it in our goal!
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BackTheBlues added 10:34 - Dec 11 Ok anyone on here actually re-watched the first goal? Gerks is never getting to it in a million years, most prem goalkeepers wouldn't... It was a decent cross if not slightly overhit - tbf to Gerks he nearly pulled off a worldy save but couldn't quite. Niles took chambo out - tommy should have got tighter and Knudsen should have got off the ground!
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prebsa added 11:34 - Dec 11 Keaneish, maybe a catch is harsh, but if you don't agree with BlueKush that he could of punched it then im sorry but i think you are wrong, these are both our opinions and we both disagree with each other and thats fine, i just personally think a ball in the 6 yard box should be getting cleared by the gk
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nipski added 13:22 - Dec 11 The first goal was caused by Ainsley heading the ball instead of allowing chambers to head it, with out this mistake the cross couldn't have happened.
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