GARRY MONK thinks the impact Marvin Johnson has had on the Middlesbrough dressing room epitomises the sort of spirit he wants to spearhead the charge back to the Premier League this season.

Johnson has impressed everyone on Teesside since his arrival before the closure of the transfer window, so much so that he has already made three appearances for the club.

Having arrived from League One’s Oxford United in a £2.5m deal it was expected he would have to bide his time before being introduced to the first team set up.

However, after scoring on his first appearances as a substitute at Bolton nine days ago and impressing at Aston Villa in midweek, the 26-year-old was asked to supply the width down the left against QPR as a replacement for the suspended Adama Traore.

And the 26-year-old didn’t disappoint. His general play was effective and he created both the opener for Lewis Baker and the winner for Britt Assombalonga.

Monk has been hugely impressed by what Johnson has shown since his arrival, displaying a hunger to shine and make the most of his chance at Championship level having worked his way up from playing in the Northern Premier League First Division just six years ago.

Monk said: “I’m very conscious of the dressing room dynamic and how it works and apart from trying to have the right player in terms of the football perspective, it’s important you have the right characters, not who are all the same, but who get along and push each other along and demand from each other at the right times and to be good with each other as well.

“That was the big part of the work over the summer to get the dynamic right. It’s a very demanding changing room but it’s one where everyone fits in and has the environment to do well and express themselves.

“That’s why the likes of Marvin, when they step up to a bigger league and bigger club, he’s been able to fit in because the lads have helped him with that and his mentality suited the type of mentality we’re trying to get here. Credit to him I thought it was a fantastic 96-minute performance and he deserved it.

“He’s come on in earlier games and showed what he’s got. We had the international break to work hard with the players to get Ryan Shotton and Marvin up to speed with how we work from a tactical point of view and the little bits they need to know so he was up to speed on that.

“The games he came on he showed he had an understanding of what was needed from him as well as his own talent.

“Credit to him I thought he was fantastic. As always the demands are there to produce again and again and keep on improving. The whole group are very committed, it wasn’t our best game we understand that but we were very committed and very strong.”

Having found the net in the 3-0 win at Bolton and then followed that up by creating two goals, including the winner, against QPR, Johnson would find it hard to have made a better start to life at the Riverside – where supporters have already taken to him.

“No he couldn’t have done any more than what he has, he was excellent,” said Monk. “From minute one to the last minute he was excellent. He’s fitted right in with this group of players and he’ll hopefully have a successful career here at Middlesbrough and keep progressing.

“He’s a fantastic lad to work with, as they all are. They’re all of the same kind, the same ilk, the same mentality and he’s the type of player that has a lot to prove and is trying to make his way in the game.”

Monk will be assessing his players’ fitness ahead of tomorrow’s return to Villa Park for the Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa and he is expected to make a number of changes to freshen things up.

Having had to play almost all of last Tuesday’s league game with ten men against Villa, he knows the last three matches will have taken its toll on the team but Middlesborugh still managed to emerge with seven points and did not lose any of those.

They had to come from behind twice against QPR to eventually claim a hard-earned 3-2 win courtesy of Britt Assombalonga’s header on the hour and Monk was proud of his players’ efforts.

“We are very pleased with the result in the end. In the first half QPR came with a plan to try to frustrate and slow things down,” said Monk, who had watched Lewis Baker and Ashley Fletcher score to pull Boro level twice.