Dael Fry and Rav van den Berg's immediate impact on return from injuries, and the impending return of Darragh Lenihan, puts Middlesbrough in a stronger defensive situation than they have experienced for some time.

In fact, Michael Carrick may feel that he has better options with his squad of defenders than at any time since his arrival on Teesside. The fact that Matt Clarke was edged out by Fry following his heroics both at the end of last season and early this term indicates the strength of those options.

Rav van den Berg then returned to the fray against Millwall and both Clarke and Fry had to make do with places on the bench, though Fry's place there might be attributed to his recent bout of illness. It’s interesting that Carrick has such strong faith in Fry because the Middlesbrough-born player was pitched straight back into the side as soon as he was considered 100 per cent fit.

READ MORE: Middlesbrough transfer news as West Ham and Ipswich Town 'make contact' to sign Latte Lath

READ MORE: Michael Carrick makes exciting Delano Burgzorg prediction amid Emmanuel Latte Lath transfer talk

Dael has already formed a decent understanding with George Edmundson, who is one of the contenders for player of the season so far. Both centre-backs are traditional non-nonsense stoppers. I don’t think either man is perfectly suited to receiving the ball in front of their own goal from throw outs from Seny Dieng, but that remains the game plan.

The task now for the Boro is to take full benefit from the defensive riches on offer. Boro’s last clean sheet before Saturday was in the middle of October. That’s a long time to go without a single shut out, even at this level. Yes, we know that Boro are a pressing team who believe they can score more than they concede. However, Boro failed to score against Blackburn, and lost that one, and then were held at Burnley as a result of Connor Roberts’ deceptive lobbed shot.

Dieng was arguably too far off his line at the time but then the shot was judged to perception. Even so, it cost Boro what would have been a memorable victory. So a few clean sheets along the way would be much appreciated by one and all, especially as this top-six battle threatens to be tougher than ever.

In any case Boro need to be winning games to try to close the gap between the struggle for fifth and sixth play-off places to join the automatic promotion battle. Boro have got a lot of plusses in their favour at the moment, not just with the ongoing boost in defensive numbers, but the fact that they have an attack which is capable of exploding with goals in the right situation.

While Edmundson is a contender for player of the season so far, one of his main rival for the hallowed title is goal machine Tommy Conway. The former Bristol City striker has all the attributes of a top goalscorer, mainly because of his utter commitment to make things happen for himself and his team-mates.

He likes to get the ball in tight situations and is always prepared to take on defenders to create an opening for himself. Conway is potentially the best permanent signing that Boro have made during Carrick’s tenure. It has helped, surely, that his fellow Scottish international Ben Doak has also settled quickly into the side and is providing some of the ammunition.

Doak is one of those players who puts bums on seats because we love his effervescent approach and his determination to get the ball into the danger areas. He is learning to pick out his team-mates which is of great benefit to the likes of Conway, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Finn Azaz.

Boro have got the ammunition to at least finish in the top six. It’s up to them to make it count. It’s up to Fry and Co to make it easy as possible for those at the other end by keeping the ball out of their own net as much as possible.