Socceroos linchpin Riley McGree is earning fresh plaudits from his Middlesbrough coach after scoring a fifth goal in his past eight starts in the English Championship.
McGree's latest heroics could only salvage a point for the title contenders who were held to a 1-1 draw against lowly Leicester at the Riverside on Wednesday (AEDT).
Second-placed Middlesbrough now are winless in three-straight games and remain two points behind leaders Coventry.
Relegation-threatened Leicester claimed back-to-back league draws.
In his second game in charge of the struggling Foxes, Gary Rowett's side took the lead when Caleb Okoli nodded home from a free kick.
But the hosts levelled on the stroke of halftime through McGree, who lashed in Scottish striker Tommy Conway's cutback.
McGree has now returned three goals and two assists in his last five matches with Boro boss Kim Hellberg full of praise for the in-form Australian.
"He's a brilliant player (who) scores a lot of goals for me now," he said on Middlesbrough's social media.
"A very important player for us; he had a good game."
Prior to the match, Swedish coach Hellberg stressed the importance of managing McGree's minutes following two seasons blighted by injuries.
"Riley, I would put up every game (for) 90 minutes if that was possible - but it's not," Hellberg told Teesside Live.
"I would like to have three of Riley and then playing him all the time."
McGree missed 46 games across 430 days between 2023 and 2025.
Middlesbrough's draw with Leicester was the first time he played a full match since November 2024, when McGree picked up a goal and assist against Queens Park Rangers.
The 33-cap Socceroo is a certainty to be named in Tony Popovic's squad for the looming World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
He provided the assist for Aziz Behich's solitary goal against Japan which effectively secured World Cup qualification last June.
McGree subsequently missed the September and October camps, before making a return off the bench in the Socceroo's 1-0 loss to Venezuela on November 15 last year, then playing 78 minutes in a 3-0 loss to Colombia four days later.
