JUST over a week ago, Middlesbrough were embarking on one of the toughest weeks they will face this season.

Three games in eight days, which included a Capital One Cup derby and taking on a team fancied to bounce straight back up to the Premier League, can take its toll on any team. But three impressive wins later Boro aren’t looking anywhere other than up.

Such a spell can separate the men from the boys and change the course of a club’s season .

Despite manager Tony Mowbray having to chop and change his side because of injuries, Boro have come through what could have been a week from hell sitting joint-top of the Championship and with a League Cup quarter-final in the bag.

After leaders Cardiff lost at Bolton on Saturday, only goal difference separates Boro from the summit.

But even after their 4-1 win at Charlton, Mowbray refused to get carried away.

You can hardly blame him after watching his side occupy the top three for most of last season, only to lose out on a play-off place on the final day.

Whether Boro have what it takes this time round remains to be seen, but the Teessiders have undoubtedly sent a message out to everyone else that they are ready to go one better.

The wins over Bolton and Sunderland demonstrated Boro have what it takes to compete at the highest level, but their win at the Valley demonstrated something even more important in their current position.

They showed they could grind out a win despite producing a poor first half performance.

Boro have now won six games in a row and have recorded their best start to a season in 25 years, but Mowbray insisted things can change very quickly, although he admitted the signs are good.

“For me it’s just about the points on offer and you would have to say we’ve had a really good few months,” he said.

“But there will be a stage where we might not win for a few weeks and we drop down.

We have to be ready for a time when we don’t win and that’s why it was important to get this result.

“The bottom line is we have to get there at the end. I’ll never get carried away until someone sticks a medal around my neck when we’ve won the league or a play-off.

“We just have to keep going and keep trying to grind the wins out. We weren’t at our best, but we’ve had an intensive week and if we can still perform like we did today the signs are good.

“I think the players have got the bit between their teeth, they don’t want to lose any football match. It doesn’t take much from me to fire them up.

It was a huge effort on Tuesday night against Sunderland and a huge effort against Bolton last week and it does take its toll at times.

“The first 70 minutes were a bit of a grind for us and a bit of hard work. We fell behind and had to claw our way back into the game, but I can give them excuses for that.

“It’s been a real shift for them this last week mentally. It took six hours to get here on a coach on Friday so it’s almost excusable to start a bit sloppily, but they found the urgency they needed in the second half.’’ The physical and mental demands of the last seven days were clear in the opening stages and a poor start culminated in Rob Hulse giving Chris Powell’s men a 13th minute lead.

Boro’s early showing perhaps didn’t warrant an equaliser, but they got it through Jonathan Woodgate, who returned from injury to head in Grant Leadbitter’s free-kick.

The defender’s presence makes such a difference to Boro’s make-up and the former Real Madrid man was once again head and shoulders above the rest, winning every header at the back and organising the back four.

Mowbray revealed Woodgate wasn’t even going to make the trip to south London after failing to recover from injury, but a knock on his office door late on Thursday night changed that.

“I’d have to say he was immense – never mind his goal,”

said Mowbray, who takes his side to Nottingham Forest tomorrow.

“The little headers he gets on from corners. It always seems to be Woody’s head and he knows where to put himself. I’m delighted that he managed to make it.

“On Friday, Seb Hines was going to play. The physio said Woody was still feeling sore and he wasn’t going to travel and yet he came into my office and said he thought he could play.

He’s gone from not being in the picture to being a star performer and he was immense.”

Woodgate’s goal gave Boro a lifeline after a sluggish start, but it was their second half display that really impressed.

Scott McDonald scored his fifth goal in seven games to tip the game in Boro’s favour on 54 minutes, but it was goal number three that really made it comfortable.

McDonald flicked on a long ball into Emmanuel Ledesma’s path and the Argentinean produced a stunning finish when he lobbed Addicks’ keeper Ben Hamer from outside the area.

By the time substitute Richie Smallwood tapped in Leadbitter’s cross at the back post in stoppage time, Boro were home and dry and it could have ended more than 4-1 had Lukas Jutkiewicz not been denied by the post or Hamer.

Six wins on the bounce is bound to leave the Boro dressing room high in confidence, but Mowbray was more impressed by the spirit and togetherness his side showed to turn a lacklustre performance into a comprehensive win.

“Confidence is high, things break your way and chances go your way. Scott came up with the goods again but they all contributed. I can ask no more.

“They’ve been magnificent.

They all worked extremely hard and got the job done against a team that were desperate for a home win.

“I think the spirit in the group is night and day compared to previous months or years in my tenure here.

“They come to work with a smile on their faces and understand we will go through sticky periods. That really comes out when you’re maybe behind in a game and the players have to work for each other. Today they had to do that after a disappointing first half and credit to them for turning it around.”