Chris Wilder's plea to Middlesbrough supporters to help his side through a tricky period

Chris Wilder is pleading with Middlesbrough supporters to stay with the team and continue to back them, to help them negotiate their way through a tricky start to the new season.

Boro have managed just one point from their opening two games and have also exited the Carabao Cup in the first round. While the results in isolation make the start to the season look worse than it is, Wilder knows only too well that it's a results-driven business, with pressure high thanks to high pre-season hopes and expectations on Teesside.

But the difficulty for Boro and Wilder is that they're trying to get through the early weeks of the season knowing that their squad isn't quite where it needs to be yet, with the Boro boss on record with his frustrations that the transfer window remains open until the end of August - over a month after the start of the season.

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It's not for the want of trying in terms of having the squad exactly as they want it. Boro have signed eight players so far this summer, but with a big overhaul needed, Wilder is still keen to add four more before the end of the window. The sooner the better in that regard, with games coming thick and fast, but Boro are having to be patient in a difficult market to ensure they get the best possible players available to them.

And as such, with Boro needing to keep pace and ride the waves of the next few weeks as best they can, Wilder has talked up the impact that the supporters can play in that.

He said: “I keep saying it, and the fact is, I know how I want it to look and I know what good looks like. There is no doubt about it. Have we improved? Yeah in certain bits. Are we where I see it or