Second best Boro suffered a damaging defeat in their basement battle at Barnsley.

It was another limp and lacklustre show and another painful 1-0 reverse to a relegation rival.

Barnsley had not kept a clean sheet at home since the opening day yet Boro never landed a punch.

What’s more, the Tykes were faster, sharper and better organised in every department in a game that should have alarm bells ringing at Rockliffe.

Jonathan Woodgate’s team have now played the bottom three in quick succession and taken one point from nine.

And what was once a healthy 10 point cushion from the drop spots has been whittled away to just three.

Here’s what we learned at Oakwell.

A self-imposed lack of pace is hurting Boro

Sluggish Boro have suffered an alarming drop off in levels of energy and pace and that has cost them dearly.

Without the zip they displayed in the Christmas spurt they can not impose themselves on games, they can not make the press work high up the pitch and can not hit teams on the break.

And without that extra gear they are left as a limited side with very little in their armoury.

Paddy McNair shows his frustration as Boro slip to defeat at Barnsley

They don’t have the athleticism, power or muscle to win a toe-to-toe midfield scrap and they don’t have the well drilled rigid defensive discipline to soak up pressure and grind it out.

And for all the combinations of strikers they have used - sometimes all at once - they have failed to land many punches.

In back-to-back games against the bottom two they haven’t mustered a single shot on target!

Without that crucial ability to hit the fast forward button and strike on the counter they just do not trouble teams.

And that change has been a conscious one. In recent weeks the youthful zest that peppered the team in the bright run has slowly been sidelined as the manager has been given the luxury of choice and started to tinker.

Marcus Tavernier was integral to the fizz in the final third but has been squeezed out as the team has been reshaped to accommodate Ravel Morrison and the return of Britt Assombalonga.

And the arrival of Harold Moukoudi and return of his walking wounded at the back has offered the chance to play a back four.

High-energy Hayden Coulson has been rotated and rested in recent weeks and Djed Spence, an eye-catching catalyst after exploding onto the scene in December, has also been dropped. “He has to do more,” said Woodgate.

Those three were absent at Barnsley with the boss opting for experience in the high-stakes game.

But ring-rusty Assombalonga, George Friend and Ryan Shotton were included, none blessed with pace to burn and all recently returned from long injury lay-offs and the impact on collective speed, acceleration and revs was marked.

Boro’s purple patch was based on not just the pace of the kids but also their bubbling energy, instinct to get forward and bravery on the ball. That is exactly what has been lacking in recent weeks as momentum has fizzled out.

Djed Spence at Oakwell before Boro's 1-0 loss

And ironically, it is also what Boro have struggled to deal with in oppositions team who appear quicker and slicker.

Woodgate must find a system that can harness that pace and zest because without it Boro are a poor team.

Boro are losing their way in a formation flux

We are in February - and deeply enmeshed in the relegation mire - and we still can’t really say how Boro play.

With most teams there is a little thumbnail description of how they set-out and what their shape or style is.

There are teams who sit back and counter; who are direct; who get it wide and hit diagonals, who press; who retain possession and pass it patiently.

There are teams who are wedded to three, four or five at the back; one, two or three up front; have two or three or a diamond in the middle; who use wingers. And all are equally valid systems and can be successful if applied well.

But Boro? How do Boro play? What are they set up to do? Tactically, the season has been built on shifting sands.

Having trumpeted a laudable aim to play high-tempo, attacking football on the deck Woodgate made a timely and understandable philosophical switch to wing-backs and seemed to have settled on that. It suited the squad.

There were some shrewd curve-balls that came off - a 4-2-3-1 with two anchormen was a masterstroke in the win at West Brom then the surprise of using Rudy Gestede at Preston paid off  - but generally he stuck with the five at the back.

George Saville talks to Ravel Morrison at Barnsley

But with new recruits and players returning to fitness there are too many options and it seems all bets are off when it comes to predicting not just the formation but also the approach, the tempo, the objectives.

What has happened to the high press, the quick counters and crisp, forward passing moves in the attacking third?

Up front it has been in flux. During the long barren run Boro have played with one, two and three up top (and four in the late flailing against Luton) and look less effective by the week.

From one game to the next Boro look a different team, not just in personnel but in essence.  That has got to be confusing for the players.

Woodgate has always been ‘horses for courses’ but that chopping and changing is bringing diminishing results.

It is time to settle on a system that suits the players and they understand and stick to it.

Boro haven’t found a role for Morrison

Ravel Morrison has nice feet, sublime control and a nice range of well-weighted passing.

As yet Boro haven’t found a way of harnessing the maverick midfielder’s undoubted ability.

At Wigan Boro played him in the hole behind Fletcher and a leaden Assombalonga and there were flashes of promise.

The on-loan schemer made some bright runs and looked busy. He dropped very deep to demand the ball and then found himself nowhere near the area where he could hurt the opposition. But there were flashes.

Ravel Morrison at Oakwell

At Barnsley he was on the left of a midfield three and struggled to make an impact on the game.

There were a couple of decent moments. He slotted Fletcher through in the first half and the flag went up and in the second half he won the free-kick that Wing drilled against the wall and wide. But it was nothing to rave about.

He was brought in to be the catalyst in the final third but found himself making short square passes and drifting into what at times was almost an anchorman role.

He was supposed to be the missing piece of the jigsaw up top, not become another George Saville.

Dropping deep to join the clutch of engine room means he wasn’t supplying bullets for the isolated frontmen.

He is probably best suited as a No 10 in a 4-2-3-1 but that is only an occasional shape for Boro.

Or you cold get some joy from him behind the striker in a 3-5-1-1 but that system seems to have gone the distance since the return of Assombalonga.

So how will he be used? Will he be crow-barred into a shape that doesn’t really suit? Or will Woodgate shuffle his pack again to try to get the best from him? And crucially, how long will it take?