STEWART DOWNING insists Middlesbrough's players all believe they have the talent to win every game in the Championship after being given the freedom to attack under Garry Monk – even when they fall behind.

The Boro winger, speaking at a community event ran in conjunction with the club’s charity, the MFC Foundation, has been impressed with the standard of attacking talent brought in since Monk’s summer arrival.

And Downing feels it is merely a matter of time before everything clicks together and Middlesbrough move up through the rankings and closer to the promotion spots - despite knowing there is room for improvement.

The 33-year-old was part of the Middlesbrough team that clinched promotion under Aitor Karanka two seasons ago, when the onus was on staying solid rather than creating chances.

Now Monk, who still wants his team to keep clean sheets and cut out costly mistakes, is happier to see his players playing with greater fluency in the final third.

Downing said: “In terms of the way we play and are trying to play, and in terms of the players we have brought in, I think we have more options in the further forward than we did when we last went up.

“We heavily relied on David Nugent and Jordan Rhodes last time. If either of those got injured we would have been in big trouble. In that area of the pitch I think we have miles better options. Now we have Ashley Fletcher, Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite … you can keep going on and on.

“We were also very defensive before. Previously the manager (Karanka) might have been happy to win 1-0, even if I’m sure we would still take that now if we were winning more, but I think this manager would like to see more from his team.

“Now if we go behind I think there is a belief that we can still go on and win. If we went behind a couple of seasons ago in the Championship then I think we would have taken a draw.

“Now this manager can take me off and put a goalscorer like Patrick Bamford on. Or he can take Fletcher off and put Assombalonga on. There’s just great options there. The good thing is that there is a confidence we can score goals.”

Middlesbrough are nine points shy of league leaders Wolves and Cardiff, who arrive at the Riverside on Saturday, are two points closer.

Downing, back in the side last weekend at Barnsley, hopes the visit of the Bluebirds, managed by the experienced Neil Warnock, can provide the perfect platform to get the promotion charge up and running.

Downing said: “The last couple of home games weren’t very good, we know that. I think if you look at the whole season you can see what the manager is trying to do, you can see what the team is trying to do … I think it just takes time.

“Losing Martin Braithwaite early in the season was massive because he is a very good player. He was out for two months and has come back in and done really well, even if it could take time for him to get to his top match sharpness.”

Middlesbrough lost to Norwich and then drew with Brentford in the last two Riverside fixtures, so improvements need to be made on that front for Monk’s team to make inroads on the top two.

Downing, who looked to have been on his way out in the summer, said: “It has been nice to play again, it would have also been nice to have won at Barnsley though. We have stuttered at times, just a sloppy goal here and there that have cost us - team mistakes.

“I think this league has got a lot stronger in the last two years. Look at us we paid £15m for a player (Assombalonga) in the Championship. That would have been a record in the Premier League not so long ago.

“I think owners are throwing around that little bit more to try to get out of the league. There are some big teams in this league, like Sheff Wed, Leeds … but I am confident we can do well.”

* Stewart Downing was one of five first team players at Middlesbrough’s Herlingshaw Centre, South Bank, yesterday to get a flavour of the diverse initiatives that take place as part of the MFC Foundation.

Downing, Cyrus Christie, Assombalonga, Daniel Ayala and Adama Traore took part in the activities with groups including the Youth Employment Initiative, Club Together, Premier League Inclusion and Team Talk.

For further details on the Foundation’s week of action check out this web address www.mfc.co.uk/news/mfc-foundation-launch-week-of-action-campaign.