Squad rotation was a big talking point after Middlesbrough's draw against Cardiff City

Kim Hellberg has offered some insight into his Middlesbrough selection process, after the decision to rest Will Lankshear on Saturday proved a major talking point.

Hellberg insisted after the draw with Cardiff City that the decision to rest Lankshear was the right one, despite turning to the star striker for inspiration at half-time, as Boro came from two behind to earn a draw.

The decision to rest Lankshear for the game became the big talking point of the game, with Hellberg insistent after that he has to rotate, having learned lessons from last season.

“What I've learned through a season is that if I don't rotate the team then everything you're going to ask about in three or four months will be around us having no depth,” Hellberg said.

“It doesn't matter if you're Real Madrid or whoever it is, you create the environment you have, and how you work is only going to create that.

“You can start with good depth, but if I don't rotate, the gap will just be bigger, and then in two months we’ll be saying we only have 11 players. So it's that balance of finding things right, and it’s a tricky part.”

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It's a tough balance for Hellberg. He’ll be criticised for changing too much for the Cardiff game, but felt the big problem against Millwall last month - when they also found themselves 2-0 down at half-time - was that he didn't change things enough. It resulted in a first half that lacked enough energy.

So how does the Boro boss judge when a player needs a rest? He offered insight into his thinking.

“It's a balance of all those things [talking to players/judging in training/looking at the data],” he said. “You need to have a good relationship with them, try to get to know them, talk to them, and also see them on the pitch.

"We have like percent of what they've done before in terms of every game. So we can judge: how high was it? And then you have to sometimes go and guess a bit because that’s ultimately all you can do.

"I understand that's not a job for someone else to think about. It's for me. I will try to manage the team the best way I can for every game, and try to set them up in the best way to win here and to win in one month.

"And that's my job, no one else's job. It's normal to have a lot of decisions. That's what we do in this role in terms of trying to find the right way, and that's what you always try to do.”