AT the second time of asking, Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough reign is finally up and running. Three days after crumbling when they had been pegged back at Preston, Carrick’s side showed much greater resolve as they turned a similar situation at Hull’s MKM Stadium into a precious three points.

Leading for the second game in row through a Chuba Akpom header, history looked to be repeating itself when Boro’s lead was extinguished at the start of the second as Cyrus Christie’s shot deflected past Zack Steffen.

At Deepdale, the Teessiders had succumbed in stoppage time after their advantage had been overhauled, but on Humberside, they deservedly reclaimed the lead three minutes after conceding an equaliser as Darragh Lenihan’s header was bundled into his own net by Tobias Figueiredo.

A third goal arrived with ten minutes remaining, with Christie deflecting Ryan Giles’ shot past Hull goalkeeper Nathan Baxter at his near post, and as the final whistle blew, Carrick was able to punch the air in delight and celebrate his first success as head coach.

He played a major role in the win, with his decision to persevere with Akpom playing in a ‘number ten’ role paying off handsomely as the striker caused a succession of problems for the second game in a row. Chris Wilder didn’t even want Akpom in his first-team squad at the start of the season – at this rate, Carrick might well decide to start building a team around him.

He will have been delighted with Giles and Isaiah Jones’ impacts on their respective flanks – the pair finally started to rediscover the form they had been displaying right at the start of the season – and equally as pleased with the resolve that enabled Lenihan and Dael Fry to snuff out Hull’s threat when they threatened to stage a sustained fightback at the start of the second half. Unlike at the weekend, this was a night when Boro stood firm.

Carrick clearly wants to make tweaks to the side and system he inherited when he took over just over a week ago, but the new Boro boss has also been preaching the need for patience and stability given his side’s precarious position close to the foot of the table.

There was only one change last night, but it was a significant one, with Marcus Forss replacing Rodrigo Muniz as he returned to the starting line-up for the first time since mid-August. Forss’ signing on a permanent deal from Brentford was one of the moves that ratcheted up the tensions between Wilder and Boro’s recruitment team, with the former boss doing little to counter the suggestion that he did not really want the Finland international.

He certainly didn’t trust him in the first team, hence why the 23-year-old’s presence last night felt like Carrick attempting to turn over a new leaf. If nothing else, it suggested that the new head coach is willing to be much more experimental than his predecessor when it comes to trying to increase his side’s attacking threat.

Forss lined up as the lead striker at the MKM Stadium, but it was the forward playing behind him that was the key to Boro claiming a first-half lead, just as he had been at Preston three days earlier.

Akpom is another player who was written off under Wilder, only to be reintegrated into the first-team picture when alternative options became limited at the start of the season, and the 27-year-old, who spent a season as a Hull player seven years ago, has been a revelation so far this term.

He almost opened the scoring in the 12th minute of last night’s game, peeling off to the edge of the area in order to receive a cut-back from Isaiah Jones before pulling a shot narrowly wide of the target, but made it two goals in two games when he found the net on the half-hour mark.

The goal owed much to the crossing ability of Tommy Smith, with the full-back whipping an excellent ball across the face of the goalmouth after receiving a square ball from Jonny Howson.

Akpom had scored with a back-post header at Deepdale at the weekend, and he repeated the trick as he stooped at the back post to nod home again.

It was a bold move from Carrick to select Akpom as a ‘number ten’, but it is one that has already paid off, with the forward clearly relishing the opportunity to break into the box from a slightly deeper position. With defenders unsure whether to stick close to him or pass him on, Akpom suddenly finds himself enjoying the kind of space he is often denied when forced to play with his back to goal.

He almost scored again seven minutes before the interval, following up after Baxter could only parry an angled drive from Giles and forcing the Hull goalkeeper to hurriedly scramble the ball away from inside the six-yard box.

Boro’s attacking play in general was much more dynamic and purposeful than it had been at Preston, with the visitors regularly looking to play long diagonal balls aimed at releasing Jones behind Hull left-back Jacob Greaves.

The Tigers, whose incoming manager Liam Rosenior was watching on from the stands, were stilted and one-paced in comparison, with their only hint of an opening before the interval coming to nothing when Oscar Estupinan shanked an effort wide of the target after breaking into the left-hand side of the 18-yard box.

Estupinan threatened again three minutes after the restart, and this time, the in-form Colombian forced Zack Steffen into his first save of the evening.

Christie, whose brief loan spell as a Boro player was far from successful, whipped in an inviting cross from the right, and after Estupinan bundled the ball towards goal, Steffen reacted sharply to tip the ball over the top.

Hull’s second-half play was much more aggressive and energetic than it had been before the break, with the hosts increasingly pinning Boro back into their own half as they threw an increased number of players into the final third.

Jean Michael Seri fired a 25-yard strike just wide of the upright as the Teessiders struggled to clear their lines, and Hull levelled when the visitors were once the architects of their own downfall on the hour mark.

Boro conceded possession from their own throw-in on the halfway line, enabling Hull to break forward.

Christie found himself in space on the right-hand side, and after cutting infield, the full-back fired in a shot that took a hefty deflection off Lenihan before looping beyond an unfortunate Steffen.

Lenihan gave Hull an unwitting helping hand on that occasion, but just three minutes later, the Boro centre-half was playing a central role in the goal at the other end of the field that resulted in the Teessiders reclaiming the lead.

Having peeled off to the back post, Lenihan met Jones’ right-wing cross with a powerful header that was directed back across the face of goal. A backtracking Figueiredo tried to clear from just in front of the goalline, but the Hull centre-half could only bundle the ball into his own net.

Lenihan threatened again with 15 minutes left, directing a thumping header from Giles’ corner straight at Baxter, before Boro made their win safe in the 80th minute.

Akpom produced more brilliant link play as he held the ball up before slipping Giles down the left-hand side, and the full-back slid in a low shot that flicked off Christie before beating Baxter at his near post.