ADAM CLAYTON thinks Middlesbrough have put together one of the best teams in the Championship, but has warned that the players have to prove it by clinching promotion to the Premier League.

It was not an attempt to put pressure on the Boro squad after back-to-back away wins following the international break, just a mere acceptance that there is the talent in the squad to be regarded as genuine contenders to go up.

Karanka added 12 new players to his squad between the end of the last campaign and the transfer deadline day on September 1, but it was the final bits of readjustment which has really lifted spirits within the camp that they are a force to be reckoned with.

For both of the victories at Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City, Middlesbrough boasted strong benches and had plenty of options to change things had the matches not been going their way.

And Clayton, who only arrived in a £1.5m deal from Huddersfield last month, shares the view that there are not too many better teams in the division on paper – but it is all about showing why by delivering results.

“I think the gaffer has put together a really good and competitive squad,” said Karanka. “A lot of players are used to playing every week and they are not going to be playing every week because the manager can change things around.

“He has made it very competitive in training and that will keep everyone on their toes. The starting 11 at Cardiff I don’t think had a bad player in there. If we can keep that momentum going, keep that focus we will do well.”

Clayton has spent the majority of the last four years playing in the second tier of English football after leaving Manchester City, so thinks he is well placed to know what is required to get out of it.

After spells with Leeds and Huddersfield, the squad he is now part of at the Riverside Stadium feels different. But he used Queens Park Rangers’ need for a nerve-tingling play-off campaign in May to clinch promotion as an example that you can’t take anything for granted in the Championship.

“Look at QPR last year, they signed all their players from the Premier League and they just scraped through in the end,” said Clayton. “To get out of this division is tough, it’s a crazy division, you have to match ability with grit and working your socks off if you like. But having brought in players like Yanic Wildschut and Jelle Vossen, we won’t go too far wrong.

“You can’t go to Cardiff and win like we did on Tuesday and then lose to teams like Brentford on Saturday at home. If you want to get promoted then you have to keep that going and string positive results together. That’s where the squad comes in; you have to be 100 per cent focused. The players who didn’t play on Tuesday could play Saturday and you have to move on.”

Clayton turned in his best performance so far for Middlesbrough at Cardiff, showing signs that he is developing an understanding with in-form Grant Leadbitter in the middle of midfield.

But he thinks the international break has been perfect for Karanka in his bid to ensure a new-look group gels ahead of a long season and it is about continuing to improve.

Clayton said: “It’s the Championship, the way it is, that you can win two and then lose two or vice versa. We have always been positive in fairness around the place, but the gaffer has brought the last few players in and things have been lifted even more.

“We had two weeks training before the first game. It felt like we had our squad then, almost complete, and it was like a new start to the season. We went forward with that group in to the first two games at Huddersfield and Cardiff and got two good results, so long may it continue.”

He added: “The togetherness is there for everyone to see. If we can get a bit of momentum going it could be tough to stop us but the Championship is the Championship so you have to make it tough for every team you face.

“The pressure will come when certain teams come to us and sit back, which is what we could be faced with against Brentford at the Riverside. We have to go in to home games differently; hopefully we can get those home wins to really get going.”