Middlesbrough 2 Burton Albion 0

THERE are a few admiring eyes from Burton Albion imagining the world’s fastest man wearing their shirt, but over on Teesside the focus is on building a team worthy of winning the marathon of the Championship rather than winning any sprint race.

On a day when it emerged the Brewers’ chairman Ben Robinson is keen to offer eight-time Olympian Usain Bolt a trial after deciding to step down from the sport, Boro were grateful to their own attacking powerhouse for claiming another three points.

Three games in to this first 46-match season back in the second tier under Garry Monk and Middlesbrough have claimed a second victory; collecting six points from nine and the boss would readily admit they are not in the groove he would like just yet.

Club record buy Britt Assombalonga struck his first goal since moving from Nottingham Forest, where he will be playing this Saturday, in the 24th minute to put Middlesbrough on track for back-to-back wins.

Assombalonga hustled and bustled throughout and the £15m signing got his rewards too with his second on the hour after pouncing on a loose ball in the box.

It would have been nice for Middlesbrough to have added more after that to really get the confidence flowing after a change of styles and approach under Monk, but what matters is that they have secured successive home victories inside four days.

Middlesbrough have improved by the game so far. This was the best performance, although Nigel Clough’s Burton lacked an edge in the final third and struggled to really test Darren Randolph in the home goal.

It would have been harsh for Monk to have changed things after securing a first win over Sheffield United on Saturday and he opted not to, despite a temptation to throw latest signing Lewis Baker in from the start.

The manager could easily have cited the hectic schedule for any tinkering – like his predecessor Aitor Karanka would have – but instead he was happy enough to give the same players more minutes at such an early stage of the campaign.

The first 20 minutes or so suggested he might have been better off freshening things up, with neither side really looking dangerous enough to pose a threat to the goals.

Middlesbrough passed the ball around successfully enough in most areas of the pitch, but when things moved into the final third they tended to breakdown and it still looked as if work was needed.

Monk took matters into his own hands when he handed a piece of paper to Bamford detailing what he wanted to pass around some of his team-mates. Shortly after that the directive brought its rewards.

When the ball got fed through to Rudy Gestede deep in the Burton half there was still plenty for him to do. He spotted Assombalonga barging into the box and the through pass was perfectly weighted for the former Forest man to power a terrific low drive inside Stephen Bywater’s near post.

There will be those who claim a goalkeeper should never be beaten in that way, but the power and precision from such a difficult angle would have made it for any goalkeeper to stop.

Given the identity of the scorer, Assombalonga will get the headlines but Gestde’s contribution should not be understated. Aside from that lovely assist, the former Aston Villa and Blackburn man was a nuisance to the Burton backline throughout with his work-rate.

Bamford, the final part of the attacking triumvirate, was also lively from the moment the game kicked off and he went close with a diving header, arching his body, from Adam Forshaw’s delivery into the penalty area just before the half hour.

There were a couple of half chances before the break which Bywater comfortably gathered, while the closest Burton came to levelling was when Matty Palmer’s stinging drive from 20 yards flew a yard wide.

Burton pressed for a spell initially after the restart and would have equalised had Randolph not been alert to thwart Lucas Akins after an underhit back pass from George Friend.

The threat of Middlesbrough’s attacking line was always there, though, and the visitors knew they had to be on their guard. Assombalonga had already been in behind the defence and missed the target before he hit his second following a fine Bamford pass.

When the ball worked its way to Gestede unmarked in the area, it looked as if he would add to Saturday’s winner against the Blades. Instead Bywater parried and Assombalonga charged in and volleyed first time into the empty net.

Burton found it hard enough with 11 men so when substitute Hope Akpan was dismissed for an over-the-top challenge on Jonny Howson just 13 minutes after coming on there was no way back.

Ashley Fletcher was denied the third by Bywater after Adama Traore’s pass, but Middlesbrough had done enough to earn the points anyway. Monk’s Boro are up and running.