Kim Hellberg braced for next twist after ‘roller coaster’ first season with Boro | OneFootball

Kim Hellberg knows he will have a story to tell whatever happens to Middlesbrough at Wembley on Saturday.

The 38-year-old Swede, who was appointed head coach at the Riverside Stadium in November, will send his side into Sky Bet Championship play-off final battle with Hull at the end of a campaign which has been nothing if not an experience.

Boro will attempt to book their place in next season’s Premier League against the backdrop of the ‘Spygate’ scandal which cost Southampton their chance and rekindled the Teessiders’ hopes when they thought they were gone.

When it was put to him that he could hardly have had a more eventful first season in English football, Hellberg said: “No, no. That sums it up quite quite well, to be fair.

“It’s been up and downs and a roller coaster, and a welcome to England that’s been special. They told me I have some chapters in my book about this year to write later on.”

Boro’s reinstatement has left Hellberg with the task of refocusing players still dealing with the disappointment of their semi-final defeat by the Saints for a clash with Hull, who have themselves suffered disruption as a result of the disciplinary proceedings.

The Tigers were preparing to face Southampton, but have now had to start all over again, although they will go into the final on the back of a three-game unbeaten run which includes two victories, while the Teessiders, who finished the regular season seven points better off, are without a win in three.

It will be Boro’s sixth visit to Wembley, but the fact that they have won on none of their previous five does not concern Hellberg unduly.

He said: “I didn’t know that statistic. We will go there and try to win the game, and that’s what we’re doing.

“They absolutely have some top, top quality players all over the pitch that have good quality, so I think it will be a good football game and I’m looking forward to playing against them.”

In the midst of the furore surrounding Southampton’s spying charges, Hellberg, who revealed he will wear a tracksuit on the sideline because he would “look very stiff in a suit”, took his son home to Sweden to watch former club Hammarby and enjoy a beer.

Asked if he would enjoy a few more on Saturday evening regardless of the result, he said: “It’s a difficult thing in football. You try always to think of the next game, what you can do better, how you can work, how you can find tactics, small movements, all those things.

“You sometimes forget to try to understand how big it is, and how to enjoy the moment, so I will try to enjoy it at least one minute before the kick-off, and then we’ll see how many beers there are after the game.”