Middlesbrough 3-1 QPR – Boro maintain 100% record under Hellberg

A few weeks ago, few on Teesside would have known who Hellberg was, but the man who guided Hammarby to successive runners-up finishes in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, is making a great impression at his new club.

After three fine wins, his side showed plenty of confidence against a QPR side that had travelled north on the back of four wins in five.

Only a crucial last-ditch block from Amadou Mbengue and saves from Paul Nardi prevented them from scoring before they did.

But the breakthrough came when Hayden Hackney’s pass sent Strelec through and the Slovakia forward finished well to make it goals in consecutive appearances after he netted in the win over Hull City.

That run is nothing compared to Whittaker, who has eight in 12 matches, having gone 26 games without one at the start of his Boro career.

This one owed a lot to goalkeeper Sol Brynn, who launched a pinpoint kick upfield after claiming a catch allowing Whittaker to cut in on his left and curled a shot beyond Nardi.

The moment Boro wanted, though, arrived early in the second half after Callum Brittain was brought down by Koki Saito.

Conway had gone 16 matches since his last goal and had one disallowed for offside in the first half, but he took responsibility from the spot to get back on the scoresheet.

The only blot of the afternoon came when Brittain fouled Paul Smyth and Madsen reduced the deficit from 12 yards out, but with Millwall losing, Hellberg and Boro have opened up a very useful cushion in the automatic promotion spots.