THIS time last year Stewart Downing powered his way back into the England reckoning by making the most of a switch of roles to give West Ham United a wonderful start to the Premier League season.

Twelve months on from bursting away to create Enner Valencia’s goal before smashing in his own Hammers equaliser at Stoke City, Downing displayed all of his attacking quality again – this time at the top end of the Championship.

With Bonfire Night approaching again, Downing, who stunned the top-flight by dropping down a division to try to spearhead his hometown team’s promotion charge in the summer, was the man to edge Middlesbrough towards a third consecutive league win courtesy of his 16th minute strike in the free role he now seems to prefer.

The 31-year-old will not even be thinking of receiving a phone call from Roy Hodgson ahead of the friendly in Spain on November 13 like he did for his recall against Scotland in 2014, but he will be satisfied with Middlesbrough’s position in the race to get back to the Premier League.

That is the priority for Downing, head coach Aitor Karanka and everyone else connected with Boro come May – and planning for a return to English football’s top table would mean just as much, if not more, to a player than appearing at Euro 2016 next summer.

His clinical finish proved just enough to secure a third straight league win, even though Boro struggled to see off a Rotherham side rooted to the foot of the table.

Karanka’s team, on the other hand, are right in the mix at the other end and are just a point behind leaders Hull and second-placed Burnley despite staying in fourth spot and Brighton’s failure to see off Sheffield Wednesday.

It has teed things up nicely for Boro’s intriguing top of the table fixture at Hull on Saturday, where both sides will feel such a game at this stage will provide a barometer of where they stand against their rivals.

With the trip to the KC Stadium on the horizon it would have been no surprise had either of Grant Leadbitter or Adam Clayton been named on the bench, given that they are both only a caution away from a one-match suspension.

But Karanka named them both at the hub of the team and, perhaps more tellingly, decided to leave out Daniel Ayala, who was faced with a similar scenario. Ayala has been Boro’s best player this season and he will be a crucial factor when he comes up against Hull’s Uruguayan Abel Hernandez.

Whenever Karanka speaks, however, he always stresses the importance of focusing on purely the next game, so the priority last night was to make it nine points from nine after their previous stutter.

That meant following up the home win over an awful Charlton team with a further victory over another side struggling at the wrong end of the division – even if from the outset Rotherham clearly had greater intentions to attack by naming two strikers.

But Boro’s greater quality was abundantly clear. With the exception of an early clearance from Fernando Amorebieta, who formed a new-look pairing at the heart of the defence with Tomas Kalas, Rotherham struggled to get out of their own half.

Between Downing, Albert Adomah, Emilio Nsue, Carlos de Pena and Nugent, Boro found space to exploit and regularly sent crosses into the box during the first half. The disappointing thing was that very few had a red shirt on the end of them.

The opener stemmed from a Rotherham error which Downing capitalised on, when Grant Ward’s misplaced pass went straight to him.

When the winger took control deep in the visitors’ half, the former Liverpool man charged at full speed into the penalty area and away from his marker. There was still work to be done, but he powerfully dispatched a lovely finish inside keeper Lee Camp’s far corner with his sweet left foot.

It could have been two soon after when de Pena was allowed the freedom of the box to direct a header against the crossbar when Nugent picked him out in the box. It was all too comfortable at that stage, and Boro had to avoid becoming complacent.

It took them until the quarter of an hour after the break as well to seriously threaten again. De Pena headed over when Nugent’s volley back across goal had just too much height for the Uruguayan to get a cleaner connection.

There was also a routine collect for Camp from a Leadbitter header with 17 minutes remaining as Boro struggled to get the extra bit of breathing space to avoid a nervy finish.

And when Amorebieta dawdled in possession ten minutes from time, the surprise equaliser almost arrived. Fortunately for the Venezuelan defender, substitute Jordan Bowery looked as shocked as everyone else and blazed wide from a good position.

But Boro still had a couple more great chances themselves. Friend fired an effort against the near post while Diego Fabbrini volleyed wide from an unmarked position at the back post.

Downing’s first half goal had done the job, but Boro will have to be better than this when they looked to tame the Tigers this weekend.

HOW TWITTER REACTED TO THE WIN:

OrdinarySmog ‏@OrdinarySmog  

Not the most convincing of performances, expected us to push on after the goal but job done... Onto Hull

Darren Wardell ‏@waddleburger 

that was like pulling teeth. We couldn't finish a dot to dot but like a plug we've got 3 points #UTB

James King ‏@jwking23  

Home from match. Boro 1-0. We played well for 1st 25 min then allowed them into game. In fairness, they played good football. Applause #UTB

Neil Grainger ‏@GraingerNeil  

3 point is 3 points but massive respect to all 21,000 people that went to the match tonight. On to Hull- massive game but we CAN do it #utb

RIchard Box ‏@boxyboro  

Happy with the win, I hope Adomah is on the naughty step in training tomorrow tough he was awful tonight. #Utb

Michael Rooney ‏@m1chaelrooney  

Last time I attend a Tuesday night game!! Awful. Like watching paint dry 3 points tho! #UTB