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Ruben Rodrigues is through for Bolton.

He shoots straight at Radek Vitek.

What a chance that is.

Middlesbrough are pressuring Bolton every time they have the ball and win it back in their own half.

Again, they move forward quickly and Amario Cozier-Duberry has a shot blocked.

Middlesbrough have won their past eight league games against Bolton.

It is their longest winning run against one side in their history.

Tommy Conway cuts inside and has a shot blocked for the visitors.

Jack Dearden
BBC Radio Manchester commentator

Middlesbrough are playing as if they have three extra players at the moment.

The Wanderers have got to get moving.

More swift attacking play from Middlesbrough.

Riley McGree drives a shot straight at Gavin Bazunu in the Bolton goal.

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This game is being played at a ferocious pace.

Thierry Gale bursts down the left for Bolton but overruns the ball out of play.

That might just settle down the home side who have been chasing shadows so far.

Neil Maddison
Former Middlesbrough midfielder on BBC Radio Tees

Yes, we're playing a side that won promotion last season and we expected them to get the ball and have a proper go, but look at the amount of support for our boys in the away end.

It's brilliant, and we've started really well.

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So close to an opener for Middlesbrough.

They just pass their way through the Bolton defence and Tommy Conway sneaks a shot just wide of the far post.

He also had Will Lankshear begging for the ball to be squared to him.

Bolton just cannot get a kick at the moment.

Middlesbrough are out of the traps quickly.

Former Bolton man Amario Cozier-Duberry forces an early corner which is headed back across goal but cleared.

Cozier-Duberry was a huge part of Bolton's promotion campaign last season.

It is wet and windy but we are up and running at The Toughsheet Community Stadium.

We are hoping for a deluge of goals.

That is the last one, promise...

BBC Local Radio

BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Tees both have commentary on tonight's match.

We will bring you a flavour of their coverage as part of our live text service.

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For a man used to getting on the end of crosses, Tommy Conway has taken to his new role of supplying them like a duck to the River Tees.

Signed from Bristol City two years ago, the 24-year-old scored 26 goals over the course of the past two seasons before his shift out wide under Kim Hellberg.

"I feel like I'm open to learning," Conway told BBC Radio Tees. "When Kim came in and adjusted, I was on board with it. I fully bought into it.

"I could have chucked my toys out of the pram saying I wanted to be the number nine and play through the middle, but that's not me.

"I just want to play and help the team in any way, shape or form."

Conway grabbed his first goal of the season in Middlesbrough's 2-2 draw with Cardiff City, scoring the first as Boro came from two goals down at half-time to share the points with their Welsh visitors.

The team's main goalscoring burden has been taken up by Will Lankshear, who netted his 11th of the season after a summer move from Tottenham, while Conway has contributed three assists.

"I'm getting more confident coming up against the full-backs because it's not something I would have done throughout my career growing up," Conway said.

"I do feel like I'm getting better at it and hopefully the goals and the assists can keep on coming."

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This is a first league meeting between Bolton and Middlesbrough in seven years and it is fair to say the Trotters have seen both ends of the footballing spectrum.

The 2018-19 season saw Boro double Bolton with a pair of 2-0 victories as the latter were relegated to League One, 12 points adrift of safety.

A 12-point deduction for financial issues cost Bolton any chance of League One survival and they dropped into the fourth tier with only 14 points on the board.

Their season in League Two was hardly the most auspicious with them closer to the relegation places than the top seven before a remarkable turnaround in form helped them take the third automatic promotion spot.

With that all considered you can forgive Wanderers fans for just being thankful to still be here but maybe now dreaming of more success after an encouraging start to life back in the Championship.

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• Bolton Wanderers have lost their past four home league games against Middlesbrough, twice as many defeats as across their prior 27 meetings combined between September 1951 and January 2014.
• Middlesbrough have won each of their past eight league games against Bolton Wanderers; it is their longest winning run against a side in their Football League history.
• Bolton have lost just one of their past five league games (W3 D1), picking up as many points (10) as in their previous 12 league matches (W2 D4 L6).
• Middlesbrough have struck 22 goals across their opening 11 Championship matches this season, their most at this stage of a campaign since 1986-87 in the third tier and their most in the second tier since 1963-64 (27).
• Middlesbrough lead the Championship this season for build-up attacks (48) and passes per sequence (4.2), while only Cardiff City (9.8) have a lower PPDA value than their 9.9.

Middlesbrough will continue to try to attack their way out of the Championship, says head coach Kim Hellberg.

Only West Ham (30) have scored more than Boro's 22 Championship goals this season and victory tonight will send them to the top of the table.

"You have to pick in football what you want to be and we want to be an offensive team," Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees. "That's what we believe in.

"That's taken us from where we were almost a year ago which was almost totally different to how we played football to being the best team in the league at controlling games.

"You then need to put everything together and use that. There are a lot of positives I'm very happy with and we are a little bit different."

Boro have had nearly twice as many shots as their opponents in their past six games and managed 36 in a 2-2 draw against Cardiff alone, so do not expect a let-up according to the head coach.

"We're very different to a lot of teams in how we approach games, how we take them on and how brave we are," he said.

"We win more than we lose because of that and that's why over a long time, we've been a team that has developed a lot. We create a lot of chances, we concede very few and from where we started, that's a massive journey."

A change in mentality is behind Bolton's promotion into the Championship and promising start to life in the second tier, according to boss Steven Schumacher.

The Trotters came up via the play-offs last season and have won three of their past five games, including an impressive victory at Wolves.

"The mentality has changed. The first year we highlighted from the end of that season when we finished eighth and conceded 70 goals that it's not going to get you in a play-off mix," Schumacher told BBC Radio Manchester.

"So we spoke about it last year, that we needed to focus on what was important and getting everyone to buy into the team ethic and responsiblity when we're out of possession."

A play-off final victory over Stockport earned Bolton a place back in the Championship for the first time in seven years and Schumacher is heartened with the way they have approached things.

"Coming into this league everyone was aware we weren't going to have 70% of the ball like we did last year so we had to focus on the details," he said.

"There are more details because the players we're up against are a lot better, so if you're not 100% right or you don't concentrate for the whole game then teams will pick you off.

"The players understand to be successful you can't just be good with the ball or without it, you have to have an element of both."

Image source, BBC Sport

Bolton boss Steven Schumacher makes four changes to the side which held Southampton to a goalless draw six days ago.

Kyliane Dong, Ethan Erhahon, Ruben Rodrigues and Theo Bair come into the starting XI with Luca Stephenson, Xavier Simons, Atsuki Ito and Sam Dalby dropping to the bench.

Kim Hellberg brings the Championship's top-scorer Will Lankshear back into the Middlesbrough side while Sebastian Berhalter also gets a start.

Kyle Joseph and Luke Ayling make way for them but are among the substitutes with Callum Brittain taking the captain's armband.

Image source, BBC Sport