CROATIAN crackshot Alen Boksic saw all his good work undone as Derby staged a staggering fightback from 3-0 down at Pride Park last night.

Boksic had underlined his claim to be the Premiership bargain of the season with an awesome first-half display.

The pacey frontman, who struck twice on his Middlesbrough debut in the 3-1 win at Coventry on the opening day of the season, returned from injury to make it three goals in two games with a disputed 11th-minute penalty.

The former Lazio star, a snip at £2.5m, looked to have built the platform for a Boro victory.

Joseph-Desire Job added a second for Bryan Robson's side six minutes into the second half when he stabbed home the loose ball after goalkeeper Mart Poom had blocked the path of the marauding Boksic.

The three-man Boro frontline then shared out the goals as Brian Deane grabbed his first of the season on the hour, sidefooting through the legs of Poom after Phil Stamp had scampered down the right to supply the cross.

A minute later, the exhausted Boksic was withdrawn and Derby launched their comeback when striker Malcolm Christie returned to haunt Boro and snatch the first of his two goals.

In his first appearance of the season since recovering from meningitis, Christie came off the bench to pull one back in the 69th minute.

The former shelf-stacker, who scored his first two senior goals on his first Premiership start in Derby's 4-1 win at Boro last season, netted with a downward header from Seth Johnson's centre.

Christie then had a goal chalked off for offside, before Branko Strupar headed in substitute Giorgi Kinkladze's right-wing corner amid raging controversy in the 84th minute.

Boro skipper Paul Ince conceded a throw-in so that stricken teammate Stamp could receive treatment.

Dean Sturridge took the throw but instead of sportingly returning possession to Boro, he released Deon Burton who made ground to force the flag-kick off Boro substitute Jason Gavin.

And Christie popped up to force the ball home two minutes from time and leave Boro boss Robson a sickened man.

Hamilton Ricard, Boro's leading scorer for the past two seasons, found himself out in the cold as Robson swung the axe following the 2-1 home defeat by Leeds United 12 days ago.

The Colombian hitman, who couldn't even command a place on the bench last night, made way for the return of Boksic, back after a two-match lay-off with groin trouble.

Cameroon front-runner Job, who like Boksic scored on his senior Boro debut against Coventry, was recalled as Robson made four changes and reverted to a three-pronged attack following the loss of broken foot victim Paul Okon.

With Colin Cooper and Keith O'Neill also injured, Gianluca Festa came in for his first appearance of the campaign after a long-term hamstring problem and Stamp, who scored as a substitute against Leeds, made his first start this season.

Stamp, who acted as an emergency goalkeeper on Boro's end-of-season trip to Libya, was clearly on stand-by again.

Despite being faced with a keeper crisis following the loss of Mark Crossley and Marlon Beresford through injury, Robson resisted naming 20-year-old Chris Bennion among his subs.

First-choice keeper Mark Schwarzer was soon called on to make a punched clearance in the seventh minute after Burton had escaped on the left to deliver a dangerous cross.

Derby then turned defence into attack when Stefan Schnoor acrobatically cut out Christian Karembeu's crossfield ball to deny Job and hook forward.

Strupar flicked the ball on near halfway to release Sturridge, but the Rams striker dragged his finish wide of the far post.

Boro grabbed the lead totally against the run of play only two minutes later. Stefano Eranio was adjudged to have brought down Boksic just inside the area.

The Derby skipper claimed the challenge was outside, but referee Rob Styles had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

And Boksic coolly stepped forward to slot home and send keeper Poom the wrong way.

Boksic should have doubled Boro's advantage moments later when he powered down the left on the end of fellow striker Deane's flick-on, but contrived to pull his shot wide of the far post when it looked easier to score.

Derby appealed in vain for a penalty in the 15th minute when Gary Pallister made a telling challenge on Sturridge.

The Derby attacker looked to mete out a measure of retribution two minutes later when he committed a crude tackle on the Boro centre-back which somehow went unpunished.

With Boro content to hit Derby on the counter, Boksic was again proving a big weapon and when he twisted and turned to leave Bjorn Otto Bragstad in a spin in the 34th minute, he created room for a rising drive which just cleared the bar.

But Karembeu had to come to the Teessiders' rescue in the next minute with a saving header at the far post following Johnson's left-wing lob.

Derby should have been on level terms within a minute of the start of the second half, but Burton looked to be taken by surprise when Eranio's cross from the right presented him with a headed chance which Schwarzer dealt with comfortably.