Graham Westley pleased with aspects of his side’s defeat to Huddersfield Town

Graham Westley says he saw signs of encouragement in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield Town last Saturday.

Boro almost got a draw from the game after a good second half display but John Mousinho fired a late penalty over the bar, yet despite the defeat - Boro’s fifth successive loss in all competitions - Westley says he saw signs of improvement against an expensively assembled squad.

“I think the players have shown that they’re getting better, that they’re learning,” Westley said. “We’re not quite at the winning level yet which is why we’re tossing games away and we’re missing out on points.

“I think these sorts of places are difficult places to come to. The noise around the ground affects decisions, there’s no question about that, and we saw exactly that sort of situation...but we come [to away grounds] expecting to dominate, to dictate play.

“You must appreciate, I know I do, that there are a lot of very expensive, very good players on the field of play for them and over the 90 minutes the lads who haven’t been playing against players of that quality have found their confidence, have found their level of form and have started to dominate the game and I think they are encouraging signs.”