JELLE VOSSEN was always confident Middlesbrough had the attacking firepower to boost the Premier League promotion charge - and thinks this week proves it.

Boro’s excellent defensive security has been the main reason for the team’s rise to the top of the Championship this season because no team has conceded fewer than their tally of 24.

But Vossen was one of three Middlesbrough forwards - Kike and Patrick Bamford included - to find the net in Tuesday night’s win over Millwall which took Aitor Karanka’s side to the top of the division.

Despite the three goal success at the Riverside, it is an indication of their occasional scoring frustrations that every team down to this Saturday’s opponents Nottingham Forest in ninth have found the net more times than Middlesbrough’s 53 total.

But Vossen, who has accounted for six of those and four of them have arrived in two matches against Millwall, thinks Middlesbrough have shown they possess the strikers to stay ahead of the rest in pursuit of top-flight football next season.

“It’s nice to score and it gives us a good feeling going into the next few weeks,” said Vossen, who rounded off the win 12 minutes from time against the Lions.

“We haven’t changed anything. We are strikers and we can score. It’s very important to not doubt yourself and as strikers I don’t think we ever did that. We knew we would score.

“Sometimes you can score with your eyes closed and sometimes the ball just won’t go in. That’s the life of a striker and we just have to keep on working hard. We knew our luck would change and all three of us managed to score.

“It gives the manager a problem but it’s our job to make it as difficult as possible for him to make his choices. It’s a hard job for him to pick the team for Saturday now, but we have a good squad and he has a lot of opportunities.”

After Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield Wednesday raised question marks about Karanka’s decision to unnecessarily make significant changes to his starting line-up, it was important that his team delivered against Millwall.

This Saturday’s trip to Forest marks the start of a run of fixtures against promotion contenders which also includes Ipswich, Derby, Bournemouth and then Watford (after facing Wigan on April 3). The programme is likely to have a huge bearing on who finishes in the top two this year.

Vossen said: “We know those games are coming up but you have to play every team in the league so it doesn’t matter if they come in one week. Other teams are playing against each other as well. We just have to handle those games the same way we did with Millwall.

“It’s something I learned very quickly that anyone can win on their day in this league and that’s why you have to keep focused on yourself. There are plenty of players in the squad that know this league very well and that has helped the likes of me coming in this season.”

Middlesbrough’s ability to return to form after a potentially demoralising defeat at Sheffield Wednesday has also given the players extra belief.

He said: “It’s very tight at the top but we are in first place and I’d prefer to be there now than in fourth or fifth position. We are where we want to be and it’s up to us to keep on going.

“It’s good for us all to score. In the last five games we only scored twice so everybody was a little bit worried about the strikers. It’s very nice to react in this way and that everybody could get on the score sheet. It will give us confidence for the next games.

“We wanted to give a good performance and I think we did that. I think there were already some people who were hesitating about our qualities and that we couldn’t handle the pressure but we showed we have a very good team.

“The players never doubted it. We have shown in almost every game this season that we have a good team. That can’t disappear in one or two weeks. We were disappointed with the results we had last week but it never harmed our confidence and we showed that in our performance.”

The Football Association, meanwhile, has confirmed it is looking in to claims that Wednesday defender Jose Semedo spat at Grant Leadbitter during the defeat at Hillsborough.

* Football operations officer Tim Swales is Middlesbrough Supporters Club’s guest speaker at the next meeting this Monday. It takes place in the Fenton Suite at the Riverside with a 7 for 7.30pm start.