Middlesbrough were once again caught cold on home turf on Saturday as they lost 2-0 at home to Birmingham City in the Sky Bet Championship. 

Neil Warnock's side endured a frustrating afternoon at the Riverside Stadium and ultimately failed to build upon their recent upturn in form.

Goalkeeper Joe Lumley gifted Birmingham their opening goal in the 53rd minute following a well fought first half, with Marc Roberts heading into the unguarded net after the shot stopper came steaming out.

And it was then 2-0 shortly after as Scott Hogan raced onto a Troy Deeney pass in behind the Boro backline to finish low after beating both Lee Peltier and Sol Bamba in the process.

Here, we take a look at THREE things we clearly learnt about Middlesbrough after their 2-0 loss v Birmingham...

Lumley to blame?

Lumley has so far proven to be a very good signing for Boro but there will certainly be more than a few fans scratching their heads after his mistake for the first goal.

He already has six clean sheets to his name in his opening 15 league games and will only improve as time goes on.

Warnock has shown him plenty of faith to install him as the number one between the sticks and the most important thing now is how he bounces back from this set back.

The keeper is still only 26 and is certainly considered to be 'young' in goalkeeping terms.

Watmore to start next game?

Duncan Watmore was brought off the bench by Warnock late on in the first half but largely failed to have an impact on the game.

However the former Sunderland man has recently started to get back to his old self and could potentially be thrust back into the starting eleven for the next game.

He offers something completely different to that of Uche Ikpeazu and Andraz Sporar and in turn gives Boro much more of a threat in behind.

This could be a change that Warnock may consider moving forwards, particularly as it has benefitted them recently.

Sanderson decision crucial 

Birmingham's Dion Sanderson was certainly lucky to avoid receiving a second booking during the first half in what was a potentially match defining moment.

The defender had already picked up a card for pulling down Sporar and was at it again as he manhandled Ikpeazu.

However the referee surprisingly deemed the error to not be worthy of a booking, thus seeing the Wolves loanee remain on the pitch.

Boro will certainly have felt aggrieved by this as the reduction of the away side's team to 10 would have certainly given the home side's more creative players the space to create chances and take them.