MIDDLESBROUGH head coach Aitor Karanka feels his side’s embarrassment of attacking riches is the key difference between the current campaign and last season.

Boro scored five goals in a game for the first time since 2009 as they thrashed Millwall at the New Den yesterday, with all five of their goals being scored by a striker.

Jelle Vossen claimed a hat-trick as he opened his goalscoring account in a Boro shirt, with Patrick Bamford and Kike also finding the net as the Teessiders created chances at will.

The trio have shared 17 goals in all competitions this season, and with Lee Tomlin, who was an unused substitute at the weekend, also enjoying a profitable time in front of goal, Karanka is delighted with the attacking resources at his disposal.

“Last season, we had problems scoring goals,” said the Boro head coach. “There were games where we could not score one goal, but we are a consistent team now and are better at scoring.

“I said from the start of the season that we have a very good squad, and up front we have very good players. It’s not just the three strikers, we also have Yanic Wildschut, Adam Reach and Lee Tomlin. We have a lot of options in attack.”

Having signed on a season-long loan from Genk in the summer, Vossen had gone 12 games without a goal prior to Saturday’s hat-trick.

There is an option for Boro to turn his temporary move into a permanent transfer next summer, and Karanka was delighted to see him get off the mark in such an emphatic fashion.

“I was very pleased for Jelle and it was a fitting reward for all the work he has been putting in,” he said. “I knew how good he is, and when you are a very good striker, one day the goals will arrive.

“It is a very big problem for me now to choose 11 players for the following game because all of our strikers scored today and all the players who played did really well.”

Bamford’s goal means he has now scored five goals in Boro’s last six matches, and Karanka remains supremely confident the England Under-21 international will remain at the Riverside until the end of the season.

With his loan deal due to expire next month, Derby County have been linked with a possible permanent move for the striker, but after Jose Mourinho expressed a desire for Bamford to remain with Middlesbrough on Friday, Karanka does not envisage any problems when it comes to extending the current arrangement.

“I am very pleased,” he said. “But not because Jose has said what he has said. I am happy because Patrick has said he wants to be here. That is the most important thing.

“Me and Jose are both happy with Patrick here, but the most important thing is that Patrick is happy with us. He has said that and he is an important player for us, he knows that. I am sure that he is going to be with us until the end of the season.”