Tees

Naz Premji
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough narrowly missed out on promotion to Hull City in last season's Championship play-off final and the early signs for them this term is that they want to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

Kim Hellberg's side are second after nine games having lost just once.

The latest win was against promotion rivals Wolves in a game which marked the 150th anniversary of the club - the winner scored by the hottest striker in the second tier, Will Lankshear.

He has scored seven times in the league and looks a player of real quality.

What made Tottenham sell him in the first place is a discussion for another day but what I can tell you is that he has a little bit of everything in terms of a forward.

His latest goal with his head showed a level of technical ability far beyond his 21 years and indeed his own manager commented that he is "growing as a player and his finishing is on a different level".

After Lankshear's goal, Boro showed a grit and determination to keep a very good Wolves side at bay and see out the victory.

Indeed late on, Boro could have added to the tally with Kyle Joseph coming off the bench and producing an effort which came off the crossbar.

It may be early days but the signs for Middlesbrough look good.

And if Lankshear can stay fit and firing then the Premier League could be their final destination come May. It really could.

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport, North East & Cumbria

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg is happy to lavish praise on his players as they sit second in the Championship following the 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.

Having come close to promotion last season in both the automatic spots and then twice in the play-offs after the Spygate affair, Boro have had to go again.

They have brought in 12 players led by the Championship's joint top-scorer Will Lankshear but also had to content with significant exits in Hayden Hackney, Dael Fry and Morgan Whittaker, so there is a different feel to the squad.

"With everything that's gone on, what happened last season, all the rotation in the squad, it's been an unbelievably strong start from the players," the Swede told BBC Radio Tees.

"For that, they deserve a lot of credit."

Boro have lost only one of their opening nine league games, in a run of fixtures that has included matches against five of the current top nine.

They have another on Tuesday evening with a trip to the Championship's form side in Stoke City (20:00 BST), who have won five and drawn one of their last six.

Hellberg is not reading too much into where Boro are sitting right now but more in how they have performed in the opening weeks.

"The table is not that important but you look at the teams we've played and how they've started," he said.

"We've played a lot of teams who've started the season and we've performed in a very good way with a lot of players. That's the main thing.

"My job is to keep working hard to get them better as we'll need them all through the season."

We asked for your thoughts after Middlesbrough beat Wolves 1-0 on Saturday to climb into the Championship's automatic promotion spots.

Here are some of your comments:

Middlesbrough fans

KiddyChris: Hanging on at the end, but you'd possibly expect that against a good team. Fair play to Wolves, really pushed us back. But I think the best team won. Just. Feels like a big win, and finally a home clean sheet. Both teams will be up there in May. Fingers crossed this time…

David: Great result against a big rival. Lankshear has to be the buy of the season.

Paul: Haven't reached the heights of last season in terms of performance but now getting three points when we would get beat last year.

Noa: I thought Boro played a controlled game and won in a composed convincing way.

Andrew: Excellent and well done to all on this auspicious 150th anniversary. You had me worried for a while there at the end.

AyresomeAngel: Great header by our new centre-forward, nicely set up by T.C. Very useful 3 points against a good side, who, like us, are better off for the loss of a certain manager!

Image source, Shutterstock

Wolves fans

Alan: Probably the worst performance of the season. Both full-backs run ragged.

Djiga lucky not to see red early in the first half. Good job he wasn't as he played really well.

No threat up front except when Munetsi was involved. Armstrong did well to rob the keeper but looked amateurish when he gifted the ball back to him. Total lack of ability to make an accurate pass into the penalty area. Improved with the subs but difficult to say why.

James still has to show what he can do. Fer Lopez worked hard, but never got up to speed. Need a major attitude adjustment if we are to stay in the chase!

Chris C: Two decent sides Wolves looked like the break came at the wrong time. But nothing between the two sides and still very optimistic about the season.

Mike: No complaints about the result I thought Boro were the better side overall and Peixoto is kidding himself if he really thinks a draw would have been a fairer result. Wolves never really got going until they went behind and wasted the half chances they created when chasing the equaliser.

Wol: We have played two of the favourites for promotion and lost to them both. We lack a target man up front playing with two wide men and Armstrong up top. We won't win games. None of our balls in the box found a Wolves player. Defensive errors cause us problems as always.

John: Wolves management still have not realised that without a goalscorer who can score 14 or 15 goals in the season at this level, they can never achieve automatic promotion. At present top six at best is their level. And this comment from a supporter of the club for 70 years.

Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg was "very happy" with his side's 1-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday.

The side were celebrating their 150th anniversary and ended it with a win thanks to Will Lankshear's header.

"I don't think it gets much better than this," Hellberg told BBC Radio WM. "A good performance against a good side.

"There was a lot of things that were very good. I think up to the goal, we were absolutely brilliant in terms of the home game, pressing up high. We almost limited them to no chances in the first half.

"After the goal, we showed what we are trying to be - a solid team against a good side because the games will always change when we go ahead.

"I cannot reckon they had any chances to make it 1-1. We defended very good, we defended crosses, we had some transitions where we could have killed the game off but overall I'm very happy."

The goal marks Lankshear's ninth of the season and Hellberg thinks there is more to come.

He said: "Will is growing as a player. His technical quality and finishing is on a different level and you can see that with the goal, that header is one of the best I've seen.

"Will wants to improve in everything. At the start it was mainly around the box scoring the goals but now he gives us almost everything."

Listen to the full interview above or on BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Shutterstock

Hartlepool United have signed defender Max Clark on a deal running until January.

Clark, 30, was a free agent after leaving Gillingham, where he had played more than 100 games, in the summer.

His career has taken him around the EFL as well as spending almost three years in the Netherlands with Vitesse Arnhem.

He is the second player signed by head coach Pete Wild after midfielder Jack Earing and is available for Saturday's trip to Forest Green Rovers (17:30 BST).