NEIL Lennon took heart from an “infinitely better” performance from Wanderers at Middlesbrough – even though their away day woes continued.

Squeezed out by a single goal at the Riverside, the Whites boss was encouraged by the reaction from his players after their hiding a few days earlier at Nottingham Forest.

“We should have got something out of it,” he said. “Middlesbrough were the better team first half but we were better second half.

“We had pressure and domination and it was an infinitely better performance than the weekend.

“We can take a lot of encouragement going forward.”

Lennon believes the return of Emile Heskey was a catalyst for the improved display, and the Northern Irishman also praised loan keeper Ben Amos who made his full debut.

“Heskey is fit now and Ben Amos came in and was excellent so we had that bit of stability and physical presence,” he said.

“We haven’t won a game away from home since Heskey and Davies played at Sheffield Wednesday and you can tell that’s what you need away from home.

“I thought Emile handled himself terrifically, led the line well, and got us into the game in good areas. We just needed to show that little bit more quality around their goal because we had some good chances.

Lennon was upset at the manner of the Boro goal, however, which came after Lee Tomlin’s pass split the defence, allowing Albert Adomah to slide in a first-half winner.

“We switched off,” he said. “It was a straight pass and we should have had it covered.

“We defended quite well tonight, especially in the second half where we didn’t really have any worries. I’m just disappointed we didn’t get anything out of it.”