Almost as soon as Luke Thomas’ header unbelievably hit the frame and not the back of Stoke City’s goal, Gary Rowett’s attention would have turned to Tuesday night’s trip to Middlesbrough.

Leicester City go to The Riverside having not won in the league since January 5, they travel stuck in the relegation zone, albeit having cut the deficit on woebegone West Brom to a point.

They make the journey having not kept a Championship clean sheet since September and know they will face one of the most potent teams in the division.

However, it will not have escaped Rowett’s attention that as much as Middlesbrough love passing the football, they average a league high 58 per cent, possession might not be as many as nine-tenths of the law.

That was certainly what relegation rivals Oxford demonstrated on Saturday when they went to Teesside, sat back, conceded the possession ratio 75-25 and made sure they were tough to break down.

It worked, they escaped with a 0-0 draw that probably did more to harm Boro’s aspirations than improve their own –...