Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis has said that he has no concerns with the ongoing criticism from the club’s faithful and he is only focused at the job at hand at the club. The Riverside outfit have recently gone through a run of five successive defeats which have dropped them out of the playoff positions, and this has resulted in growing anger from the supporters, who want Pulis to be dismissed from the head coach role.

Speaking in a press conference, Pulis has indicated that he has no concerns regarding the fan outburst, given they are obliged to voice their opinions on the club’s poor run of form. He added that his focus only remains on the players at the moment and he is optimistic over a turnaround during the final seven games of the season.

He said: "I don’t have a problem with it. If people want to criticise I understand that. I understand the job. I understand my responsibilities. People pay their money and they have a right to criticise. They can say what they want. But we need everyone to be together right now. And the most important people in that are the players. They have to stay together and they have that belief."

Despite the poor run, “Boro are currently within two points off the playoff zone and they still have a realistic chance of finishing in the top six“. Pulis’ side make the trip to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City this weekend and the match could “produce an interesting contest“, given both teams are not in the best of form.

Swansea should have the slight edge over Middlesbrough after a midweek 3-0 triumph over Brentford. The victory ended a run of four successive defeats for the South Welsh outfit, who are pretty much out of contention for the playoffs.