Slow starters

Lee Johnson and assistant Tommy Wright

LEE Johnson accepted that Athletic were comprehensively outplayed by Middlesbrough last night and wants his men to start matches better.

The Championship side eased to a 3-0 win in the first round of the Capital One Cup at SportsDirect.com Park, leaving Johnson to pick up the pieces ahead of two more home matches coming up.

There is no doubt that neither Leyton Orient, who arrive on Saturday, nor Port Vale who roll up next Tuesday, will possess the class Aitor Karanka’s superbly-drilled charges showed last night.

But Johnson was still disappointed that it took until the second half for Athletic to pose any sorts of questions of the superior opposition.

He also suggested that there could be player movement in the coming weeks.

“It was a disappointing day for us,” said Johnson, who was forced to do without Mike Jones in the centre of midfield due a swollen knee, though it is hoped he will be fit to face Orient.

“We didn’t do enough and it was men against boys, wasn’t it?

“It is fair to say we were out-thought, out-fought, out-enthused and out-energised. They were just the better side.

“It is understandable. You have to look at the two clubs and see where we are. I did hope we would put up more of a fight early.

“I thought that in the second half, we at least came out and tried to get on the ball and knock it around. But we only had one or two shots on goal — just as Birmingham didn’t have a shot on target against them at the weekend.

“It shows they are a good side, but it also shows we have got a lot of work to do.

“The consolation is that there is not going to be anyone anywhere near that good in League One.

“However, the players have to realise as individuals that they haven’t cracked it.

“Some of them can sometimes think in their heads that they are Championship class.

“Then you look at the lesson taught to us as individuals here and it shows they have to knuckle down, go back to the drawing board and concentrate on their own game.

“You have to start questioning, do we need to bring someone in? Can we do it? Do we need to move a couple out?

“That’s a natural evolution of any football team. We will give it four or five league games and then assess.

“But I don’t think we should be downhearted going into Saturday.

“It is our level and we have to impose ourselves.”

Johnson admitted it is a worry that Athletic started the contest on the back foot, just as they had in going a goal down at Colchester after only seven minutes.

“We couldn’t get hold of it in the first 20 minutes and it was the same at Colchester, which is a worry,” he added. “We have got to start games brighter.

“They (Boro) were very assured in their tidy-up play and it killed us. It set the tone for the game.”

The start of last night’s second half was delayed as a result of confusion over James Dayton's shirt.

The blue jersey he was due to wear had his new squad number of seven, but the team sheet handed to referee James Adcock before the game had him identified as wearing number 19 — his squad number of last season.

In the end, the half-time replacement for David Mellor took to the field in a shirt bearing no name or number on its back.