Since the powerhouse Adama Traore left the club for Wolves in in 2018, Middlesbrough have lacked a player who "can create something out of nothing" - until Patrick Roberts arrived in January.

Martin Braithwaite, who made a sensational move to Barcelona last week, showed glimpses of his promise at the forefront of the Boro attack, but his heart was never at the club.

Attacking midfielder Gaston Ramirez was a special player, but like Braithwaite, his commitment was questionable, even if he did produce some magical moments at the Riverside.

So you could excuse Teessiders for getting so excited about the loan signing of Roberts from Manchester City, an excitingly fast winger with a box of tricks up his sleeve.

The 22-year-old had been a revelation at Celtic and hit the ground running in the four games he had played at Middlesbrough.

But typical of a frustrating season, Roberts was then ruled out and may not return until April after suffering a torn hamstring against Birmingham on January 21.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on Patrick," Woodgate was quoted before the dismal 1-0 defeat at Barnsley, a result that extended Boro's winless streak to eight games.

"We have missed him with that link, that's for the last couple of seasons I'd say.

"Patrick is someone who can create something from nothing. Turn on a sixpence, dance past someone, that's the sort of player who we are looking to recruit."

Boro certainly missed him in the lacklustre back-to-back defeats to two of the bottom three in Luton Town and Barnsley; Woodgate's side failed to register a single shot in target in either game, as their seven-point cushion over the teams in the drop zone was reduced to three.

Barnsley hadn't kept a clean sheet at home since the opening day, and yet Boro never came close to testing their resolve. The game was crying out for a player of Roberts' ilk; Ravel Morrison can be a dangerous player but he doesn't provide the pace and directness Boro are currently craving. Britt Assombalonga doesn't look fully fit after a long lay-off with injury, and Rudy Gestede most certainly isn't the answer.

This week defender Ryan Shotton warned his team mates they needed to change their mentality and it's hard to argue, because Boro have lacked intensity for weeks now.

But if they cannot hurt teams in an attacking sense, Woodgate's men need to outfight their opponent and their desire to drag their side out of this mess was called into question on Saturday, when 4,000 travelling fans at the Oakwell raged: "You're not fit to wear the shirt" as the players trotted off the field.

By the weekend, Boro - who host promotion chasing Leeds United and Nottingham Forest in the space of three days - may well be back in the relegation zone.

While it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Boro could garner three or more points from the double-header, having defeated leaders West Brom and playoff contenders Preston over a profitable Christmas, Woodgate will need much more from his team.

He may well use the festive winning run as inspiration in his pre-match talk, but Woodgate needs to return to a more familiar system rather than squeezing highly-rated youngsters like Djed Spence and Hayden Coulson out of the team to field more experienced players.

But this is something he may well recognise.

"We've been in a situation like this before where we've had to win games," he said ahead of Wednesday's match with Leeds.

"We went to West Brom, who are chasing promotion, and won, and again, Preston. We'll be going out to win the game."

As devastating as Roberts' injury has been to Middlesbrough, Woodgate is paid to find a solution and he cannot afford to wait until the winger's anticipated return in April to resolve it, otherwise Boro could well find themselves in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1987.