THE Championship promotion race is widely acknowledged to be a war of attrition, so setbacks like this are to be expected over the course of Middlesbrough’s season.

Still, given the insipid nature of their challenge against an accomplished but hardly unbeatable Burnley it should still serve as a wake-up call for Tony Mowbray and a Boro side worryingly low on conviction.

This might only have been their second Riverside reverse of the campaign, but they have only picked up one point from a possible nine now, and the pressure has been ramped up by this comprehensive collapse against Eddie Howe’s upwardly mobile Clarets.

Mowbray’s men started slowly, falling behind within six minutes after Jay Rodriguez’s fizzing low drive beat debutant ‘keeper Connor Ripley.

They never regained the initiative after that early setback, and even the appearance of £1.5m striker Lukasz Jutkiewicz – who signed on an emergency loan so as to be available on Saturday – in the second half failed to spark a toothless Boro attack.

By the time the new arrival entered the fray the home side were two behind – Kieran Trippier’s spectacular long-range shot beating Ripley a mite too easily on 28 minutes.

The teenage goalkeeper, son of former Boro flier Stuart, clearly has a big future in front of him but looked nervous on his full debut.

He was not alone on that front, with Boro’s front two of Scott McDonald and Marvin Emnes far too tentative to hammer a dent in the visiting defence.

They were bossed in midfield too, with Richard Smallwood and Kevin Thomson getting little change from a Burnley midfield which was a pleasing blend of craft and graft.

They could have scored more than the two they settled for. Dean Marney’s smart turn teed up a volley that he sent just wide, while Martin Paterson also squandered a couple of gilt-edged chances.