CHUBA AKPOM is rapidly becoming the master of reinvention. Banished from the first-team squad at the start of pre-season under Chris Wilder, the 27-year-old successfully restored his reputation to the extent that Boro’s former manager was bemoaning his absence through injury within the opening month of the campaign.

Fast forward another two-and-a-half months, and not only is Akpom still a key part of Boro’s first-choice starting line-up under Wilder’s successor, Michael Carrick, he is also revelling in a new role as play-making ‘number ten’.

Having spent almost all of his career playing as a central striker, Akpom was moved into a deeper role for Carrick’s first game in charge, a 2-1 defeat at Preston, and remained there for Tuesday’s game at Hull, which brought Boro’s new head coach his first victory.

Akpom was the Teessiders’ stand-out performer in both games, scoring with a pair of back-post headers and combining perfectly-timed breaks into the box with astute and incisive link-up play as he floated around in pockets of space between the midfield and attack.

The defensive side of his game also caught the eye, as he closed down both Preston and Hull’s defensive midfielder to enable the rest of his team to press higher up the field, and while Carrick will no doubt make the occasional wrong decision as he looks to improve the side he has inherited, his early move to reposition Akpom already looks like a masterstroke.

“He’s taken to it really well,” said Carrick, who will preside over his first home game as Boro boss on Saturday when Bristol City visit Teesside. “Sometimes, that little bit of freshness and that little change can really help. Sometimes, it can work.

“In both of the games, I thought it suited him really nicely. It’s a big part of the team, playing in that position for us, defensively just as much as going forward. Defensively, it’s a bit more of a shift than he’s maybe used to, chasing around to support our midfield a bit and filling gaps, but he’s done it great and his attitude has been spot on.”

Akpom played behind Rodrigo Muniz at Deepdale at the weekend, but it was Marcus Forss leading the line ahead of him at Hull as Carrick opted to shuffle his forward line for his second line in charge.

Forss made a positive impression as a second-half substitute against Preston, and while he might not have threatened the Hull goal on Tuesday night, Carrick was delighted with his all-round display.

The Northern Echo: Middlesbrough forward Marcus Forss in action against Hull City Middlesbrough forward Marcus Forss in action against Hull City (Image: PA)

Powerful and energetic, Forss’ first-half running set the tone for Boro’s front-foot, purposeful display, and the Finland international is likely to remain in the side at the weekend.

“I like giving players a chance,” said Carrick. “It was nothing against Rodrigo – I thought he did well the other day (at Preston) so it wasn’t that. It was just that Marcus came on and caught the eye a little bit for us.

“We thought he deserved to start (at Hull), and I thought he was terrific. I said to him after the game that he wouldn’t get the headlines in terms of big moments, but what he did for the team was fantastic. It was exactly what we want and stand for – sometimes, you might not shine as an individual, but you can still play a big part for the team, and he did that.”

Boro have not recorded back-to-back victories since April, and having discerned signs of improvement between Saturday’s performance and Tuesday’s display, Carrick is hoping his side will take another step forward when they take on a Bristol City side that lost at home to Sheffield United on Tuesday night.

“I thought the boys touched on a bit of everything with the way they played (at Hull),” he said. “Yes, it’s going to take time, and you never get the perfect performance, but we keep striving to be better and I thought there was an improvement from Saturday to the Hull game.

“Obviously, we need to keep getting better, for sure, but at the same time, to be realistic, I’m so proud of them for the way they’ve gone about things so far.”