Town captain Dara O’Shea expressed his frustration at an uncharacteristic performance as the Blues were beaten 2-1 by Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

George Hirst missed a penalty moments before an own goal from Cédric Kipré gave Boro the lead just before half-time in a period of play that ultimately decided the contest on Teesside.

It meant Town fell to a second league defeat of the season and remain without a victory away from home since April following another below-par performance on the road.

Certain elements of the game understandably annoyed O’Shea, who believes the match summed up the chaotic nature of the Championship.

“Extremely frustrating,” he said. “I thought the game was too loose and that was the problem. We had some great chances to convert in the first half and maybe kill the crowd.

“We obviously missed a penalty and that gives them a massive boost, but I just think we let the game get too loose and that’s not normally us.

“They were catching us on the counter a lot which is quite unusual for us, I just don’t think we were fully at it the way we should have been and could have been.

“If we score the penalty, the game maybe goes a different way and that’s just the Championship and that’s the nature of this league.

“Then in the second half, we came out and let them have too much time on the ball in the wide areas. That’s not our DNA, that’s not the way we’ve been playing, especially at home.

“We pride ourselves on being intense, getting to the ball and putting tackles in. We did that in spells, we just didn’t do that throughout the whole game. That’s what happens in this league.”

Prior to the opening goal, there was a manic spell in the game where the Blues had a penalty shout turned away and goalkeeper Alex Palmer made four sublime saves to keep the game at 0-0.

In amongst the Boro chances, Sammie Szmodics had a header cleared off the line, and O’Shea says the game could have easily swung in another direction had the fine margins tipped their way.

“One hundred per cent,” he agreed. “This is football, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. If you don’t take your chances, sometimes it comes back to bite you and it did today.

“We just let the game go too loose which is really disappointing for ourselves. I’m saying the same things which show how frustrated I am.

“We had a great chance of coming up here and getting three points tonight. We caused them problems, we just didn’t cause them enough.

“It’s trying to find some control in anything. The game’s frantic, everyone’s frantic. We’ve just got to step up a bit more and understand that these moments happen in football and we’re able to react to them.

“It’s just about the next play and don’t let one moment affect us for a period. Alex done really well for us today and kept us in that game. Their keeper did too, I don’t think you can get away from the fact that he’s pulled off some great saves and we’ve been unlucky.

“Alex has been great today, I'm disappointed for him that we haven’t come away with the win. He put in a great performance like that and he’s conceded two goals which is disappointing for him.

“I hope everyone else is disappointed because nobody should be happy with that. He’s played well today and we probably haven’t digged him out as much as we should have. That’s the nature of the league.”

Town’s home form has been noticeably different to their away form, with the Blues unbeaten on their own turf and having won their last three games at Portman Road.

O’Shea said: “Of course we’ve spoken about it, it’s the elephant in the room. Our away form hasn’t been where we want it to be, we’ve just got to find a way.

“I think we’re close, I don’t think there’s loads wrong that we’re doing. You go away to places like this and it’s tough, the crowd are on their side, it’s a Friday night and they’ve all come out. If things go our way in the game, maybe they quieten down and it’s a different game.”

Following Hirst’s penalty that was kept out by Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn, O’Shea was asked whether the players had put an arm around the striker’s shoulder.

“Yeah, for sure,” the Irishman responded. “We’re all human beings, we all make mistakes. We’re footballers and nobody’s perfect.

“It takes a lot of character to step up and take one. You’re going to miss them every now and again, it’s football. The keeper’s pulled off a great save, it’s not a terrible penalty, it’s a good save, I think.

“It’s football, George knows that himself, it’s just about bouncing back after that and I think he did that in the game. It’s the Championship, a tough old league.

“I think we have been good at coming from behind. It’s not been ideal we’ve been behind in every away game and we’ve come back and shown the fight and character to get back in the games.

“Today we maybe didn’t have that luck on our side which is disappointing. We just need to find a way to be a bit more clever away from home.

“At home, we’ve got the fans there with us and they’re a massive support and they help us. We’ve got to find that away from home, we just need to step up more, take a bit more ownership and understand it’s not easy going away from home no matter where you go.”

One positive for O’Shea was that he struck his first goal for the club, glancing a header towards the far post following Marcelino Núñez’s corner that proved only consolation.

The 26-year-old said: “It’s frustrating that the goal has come and we’ve lost. It’s been a long time coming, I feel like I’ve been close at times and haven’t got the rewards.

“Today, it was a great ball in, worked the block well with Darnell [Furlong] getting in the right place and it’s been my trademark finish for a while that near-post header. I just need to keep improving and add more goals to my game.”

The Blues now have a home double-header to come with Charlton Athletic on Tuesday and West Bromwich Albion the visitors to Suffolk next Saturday.

“The beauty about the Championship is the quick turnaround,” O’Shea said. “We’ve got to go again on Tuesday at home, which is nice to get back there and really put things right.

“We need to start putting the foot down now, kicking on and driving on. We know where our potential is as a group and we haven’t hit that yet. We’re not happy until we get to that point.”

Photo: TWTD