Two Cameron Archer questions – with the same answer

If you take Chuba Akpom out of the equation, is there a striker in the Championship you’d rather have than Cameron Archer right now? And to pose a second question, was there a better signing made in the Championship in January?

The answer to both is no.

No wonder Preston boss Ryan Lowe was so desperate to take him back to Deepdale. There isn’t a Championship boss who wouldn’t love to have Archer leading the line for their side right now.

The Aston Villa loanee was unplayable at times against Norwich, bagging a brace to take his tally to eight in his last 12 games for Middlesbrough. And he threw two assists in there as well for good measure.

For all Matt Crooks scored the crucial leveller against Bristol City on Monday, Archer was always likely to come back into the team against Norwich – and showed exactly why.

Norwich had no response to his movement and speed. He could have had a hat-trick early in the second half but unselfishly teed up Akpom for his 27th goal of the season.

Ramsey concern

The air of concern inside the Riverside when Aaron Ramsey was forced off before the half-hour mark says everything about the impact he’s made on Teesside.

Ramsey was the driving force as Boro fought back to snatch a point at Bristol City and set Carrick’s side on their way against Norwich with an early goal – and it sounds daft given the way the game unfolded, but the opener was against the run of play.

Norwich had started brightly and created two early chances before Archer teed up Ramsey for the opener. Ramsey was clearly out to prove a point against the side with which he spent the first half of the season. He cupped his ear in front of the away fans after the opening goal and was sharp and full of life before his early withdrawal.

The way Boro cut Norwich apart after Ramsey’s exit is evidence in itself that Boro aren’t over-reliant on the youngster, but he’s a class act and David Wagner must have watched on wishing Norwich had managed to keep hold of the forward.

Hopefully his injury isn’t a serious one.

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Carrick thinks outside the box

Hayden Hackney has been pretty much faultless since Michael Carrick’s appointment but there was one thing he hadn’t done under the head coach before the visit of Norwich – score.

He saw to that in quite sublime fashion. Hackney made his goal – Boro’s second – look easy, but it was anything but. The ball was fizzed in at speed and he used the pace of the cross to guide it into the bottom corner on the half volley. It was a moment of class.

Hackney was at his assured and forward-thinking best against Norwich, and adapted well to an early switch.

When Ramsey was forced off injured, the obvious change wasn’t necessarily to bring Alex Mowatt on in the middle of the park and nudge Hackney into an advanced role on the left. But Carrick’s out of the box thinking worked a treat. Mowatt put in his best display in a Boro shirt. He was tireless, tidy on the ball and teed up Archer for his first goal.

Numbers that will terrify rivals

If, as looks extremely likely, it will be the play-offs for Boro, then their rivals – whoever it is they face – will most certainly not be relishing a trip to the Riverside.

Boro have scored 42 goals in their 21 home games, a tally only bettered by Burnley. And 16 of them have come in their last five Riverside outings.

And it’s not as though Boro have been dishing out hammerings to strugglers. OK, Reading are in bother at the bottom, but Preston are the division’s form team and their only defeat in their last six games was their 4-0 thumping on Teesside. Norwich headed for the Riverside knowing a win would take them into the top six, and were the latest side on the receiving end of a Boro mauling.

Norwich didn’t help themselves with their defending and must have wished injured Ben Gibson could have replaced his suit for Sky pundit duties with a kit. But they came up against an attack that will terrify any Championship backline.

It’s now 79 league goals. And one closer to 30 for Chuba Akpom.

And the best part – or the worst if you’re a rival – according to Carrick, this wasn't Boro at their best.