Tony Pulis believes his side were unlucky to not come away with a result over the two legs.

Middlesbrough drew 0-0 in the second leg of the play-off semi-final with Aston Villa to lose 1-0 on aggregate. It was a tight couple of games, but ultimately Jedinak's goal from a corner was the difference. Pulis only joined the club in December, so he had a limited chance to alter the squad using the January transfer window

They only ended up playing Villa due to a last-minute equaliser in the match against Ipswich which meant they finished in fifth rather than sixth and avoided playing Fulham, who managed to beat Derby 2-1 on aggregate to reach the final.

This is what Pulis had to say about the two legs, according to the official Boro site: "We've had really good moments in the game, times we've been dominant in possession."

"We need to turn that into chances and goals. I can't fault the players, I thought they were brilliant in a really hostile atmosphere."

"I'm desperately disappointed for everyone in the area because I thought over the two games we'd done enough to get something out of it."

The Verdicts

Pulis achieved the objective of getting into the play-offs which would have been his main task when he came in because that was looking under threat with Garry Monk in charge.

This was always going to be a tough game due to the strength of Villa's squad as well as the experience of Steve Bruce in these situations, so this should be seen as a good first season under Pulis and he will have the summer window to make any changes he believes are necessary. However, Villa deserved to go through over the two legs even if it was a close affair.