AFTER a strong start to the season, Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka’s side are feeling the benefits from getting their business done early.

With ten signings made before a ball was kicked, Boro have given their new recruits time to gel and with five points on the board already, the Teessiders look well equipped to stay in the top-flight.

The Teessiders’ transfer business looks all the more impressive when potential relegation rivals Hull City waited until very close to the transfer deadline to bring in any players.

Karanka appears to have learned from his previous two full campaigns where Boro were short of numbers in the opening weeks of the season.

During the 2014/2015 campaign, the Teessiders lost three of their opening five league games and suffered from not getting transfers over the line in time for the first few games.

Patrick Bamford, Ryan Fredericks, Jelle Vossen and Adam Clayton were all signed after the opener against Birmingham and proved to be key first-team members.

In a league campaign where Boro lost just 11 times, those three defeats proved a key factor in missing out on automatic promotion.

Although Karanka’s side recovered, having rookie forward Bradley Fewster as the only other striking option to Kike and Seb Hines at right-back was far from an ideal start.

Fine margins proved crucial in the promotion race and could do in the battle to stay in the Premier League.

Middlesbrough had a slightly more productive August in 2015/2016 but still had failed to tie up deals for David Nugent and Carlos de Pena until after the first game of the season, a frustrating draw against Preston.

De Pena’s impact was minimal over the season and perhaps a factor could have been that he did not feel the benefit of a pre-season, something that all new signings apart from Fabio, Calum Chambers and Adama Traore have enjoyed.

By the end of last August, Karanka’s side were already five points behind Brighton and playing catch-up, thanks to a surprise defeat to Bristol City.

In that loss Yanic Wildschut, started and was loaned to Wigan barely a month later, showing how far Karanka was from knowing which players were part of his plans.

Adam Reach also scored in the win over Sheffield Wednesday, despite this he was loaned out just a few weeks later.

This time around, Karanka appears to know which players are part of his plans and Alvaro Negredo and Antonio Barragan in particular have made very impressive starts.

It is highly unlikely to be a coincidence that late arrivals Chambers and Traore are both under 21, meaning they do not count as members of Boro’s 25-man squad.

Sunderland’s rotten record in August, they haven’t won in the opening month of the season since 2010, shows a good start is not necessarily essential.

Yet with David Moyes already admitting the Black Cats are in a relegation battle and top-flight clubs spending more money than ever, a strong start could prove crucial.

Watford demonstrated how important a strong beginning to the season can be, they picked up 29 of their 45 points in the opening half of the 2015/2016 Premier League.

Time will tell whether Middlesbrough's start to the season is of importance. After all there is a long, hard season ahead.