Nottingham Forest's Championship rivals appoint new head coach

Nottingham Forest's Championship rivals Middlesbrough have appointed Jonathan Woodgate as their new head coach.

Woodgate, who has signed a three-year deal with his boyhood club, replaces Tony Pulis following the Welshman's departure at the end of the season.

The former Leeds United and Real Madrid defender was previously a scout at Liverpool before returning to the Riverside Stadium in March 2017, joining up with former boss Steve Agnew's coaching staff.

He was then handed the reins of the Under-18s side before getting the promotion to the top job, the third appointment by a Championship side in the past couple of days following Slaven Bilic's arrival at West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City's hire of Steve Cooper.

Boro finished the season in seventh place, losing out to Derby County in the race for the Championship play-offs by a point.

Forest did the double over Boro last season, beating them 2-0 on Teeside in October before inflicting a 3-0 defeat on them a the City Ground in April.

A club statement read: "Middlesbrough Football Club are delighted to confirm that Jonathan Woodgate will head up a new-look senior coaching team.

"Jonathan has been appointed as the club's new head coach and has agreed a three-year contract.

"Our former captain will be joined by his ex-Leeds and Tottenham team-mate, and current Republic of Ireland assistant manager Robbie Keane, Leo Percovich, who was previously on the coaching staff at the club from 2013-2017, and one-time Boro man Danny Coyne, as goalkeeping coach.

"There was huge interest in the coaching positions following the departure of Tony Pulis and in a robust process the club spoke with a number of potential candidates both in the UK and abroad.

"It was during this procedure that it became clear that Jonathan was the outstanding candidate to head up the new structure, and his staff bring a wealth of experience and knowledge.

"Jonathan's vision is very much aligned to our own for the club as we look to develop a new identity."

Former Reds boss Aitor Karanka was in the running with the bookmakers to return to his old side.