Stewart Downing reckons he has the perfect solution to Steve McClaren's striker conundrum - play them all together in a three-pronged attack.

Ever since Portsmouth's Aiyegbeni Yakubu was added to Middlesbrough's multi-talented squad - for the tidy sum of £7.5m - fans' tongues have wagged non-stop on Teesside wondering which two from three strikers McClaren would perm from.

Their question was answered soon enough when the Boro boss used the former Pompey man in tandem with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and left Mark Viduka to sit on the bench in the season's curtain raiser against Liverpool at the Riverside.

But injury to Yakubu prior to Boro's game at St Andrews with Birmingham on Tuesday night reopened the door for Viduka to return and, the 29-year-old striker responded in devastating fashion.

First he stabbed home James Morrison's driven cross after 14 minutes before producing a sublime moment of skill to volley, from an acute angle, past bemused Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor on the stroke of half-time.

But while many seem to think two's company and three's a crowd Downing believes the more the merrier and says all three Boro hotshots can be accommodated, with a little tinkering.

"I think if the manager changes our formation they all could play together in the same team," said Downing, whose free-kick set up Franck Queudrue to poach Boro's third goal on Tuesday.

"All three of them have played together now and they all have goals in them as well.

"We know what 'Dukes' (Viduka) can bring to the team and we see these qualities when he's fit, and if he stops fit he'll score us goals."

The 21-year-old England international also hailed the influence Viduka's big strike-partner Hasselbaink has around the club.

It's not uncommon in a game to see the former Holland international give his young charge what seems like a ticking off.

Last season boss McClaren mischievously reckoned Hasselbaink was one of the biggest moaners at the club - before adding that this is an important ingredient to all natural born winners. Downing laughed at the 'grumpy so and so' suggestion but did back his manager's 'winner' judgement on the prolific Dutchman.

"He's a great lad and I get on well with him on, and off the pitch as well," said Downing spreading more light on their relationship.

"He is obviously trying to make me a better player as well, and I do the same for him.

"If I'm not in the right position or the ball is not good enough he will tell me. But obviously Jimmy is a winner and I'm sure if it was the other way around I would be saying the same thing to him.

"He's a great player and he expects the best from people which is not a bad thing."

* Downing has been called into Peter Taylor's England squad for the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers versus Wales and Germany. Team-mate Yakubu will join up with Nigeria for their World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Oran, should he recover from a heel injury.

Boro's Adam Johnson and David Wheater join Sunderland goalkeeper Ben Alnwick in England's Under-19 squad for their friendly against Belgium at the Darlington Football Stadium on September 6, kick-off 7.30pm.

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