Boro continued their pre-season preparations with a hard-fought match against Bradford City.

Although the Teessiders had several bright moments in the first half, they went into the break trailing by a goal after the Bantams converted a penalty.

A tense second half was settled five minutes into stoppage time when Will Swan added a second for the hosts. Rob Edwards had another valuable evening as he was able to run the rule over his squad, which consisted of 22 players who played for 90 minutes.

Morgan Whittaker began his pre-season on a high note, assisting on all three Boro goals in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Mansfield Town.

He was again in the thick of things against Bradford, creating an early opportunity for Tommy Conway, who was denied by a block. Boro squandered a number of other opportunities and half-chances, with Hayden Hackney shooting wide from distance, Whittaker having an easy shot from deep, and Riley McGree twice being denied by blocks.

The home team’s first sight of goal came three minutes before halftime, when Bobby Pointon forced Tom Glover to make a sharp save. There was still time for Bradford to take the lead, with Antoni Sarcevic’s spot-kick proving too much for Glover after the hosts were given a penalty.

Boro’s first-half captain, Conway, drew a save from Sam Walker in stoppage time, but the club trailed at halftime.

Boro made a strong start to the second half, with Marcus Forss’ goalbound strike blocked just 30 seconds after the restart.

Forss later dragged two attempts wide, and Whittaker and Neto Borges were both frustrated by blocks after firing towards goal.

Boro made 11 changes throughout the 90-minute game, with Edwards taking advantage of the opportunity to provide valuable pre-season minutes to the entire squad.