MORGAN ROGERS is only going to get better. Not because he has scored his first Championship goal in a Middlesbrough shirt, but due to the fact he is desperate to improve.

That might sound like what any young footballer would say, but Rogers is putting the work in when he isn’t on a pitch to deliver. He is learning all the time.

And, according to Rogers, that was how he ended up scoring the crucial winning goal for Michael Carrick’s side when Wayne Rooney brought Birmingham City to the Riverside on Saturday.

Having spent 76 minutes on the sidelines wondering if his chance was going to come along, it did. By the time Carrick had introduced him with the scoreline goalless, Rogers had worked out what was working and what wasn’t working in the final third.

He also had an impact at Sunderland two weeks earlier when he emerged from the substitutes' bench to set up Isaiah Jones’ goal in the thumping 4-0 win.

For a 21-year-old to be thinking along those lines already highlights how much he thinks about the game. Whatever he felt could work to his advantage, did, albeit with a little luck along the way too.

READ MORE:

He said: “Anyone who knows me knows I love football, I watch football naturally because I love to analyse.

“I look at players in my position all the time, in the games I watch and then when I’m looking on from the bench, looking at how those in my position are finding success. I know then what I can do if I go on, I’m ready.

“I look to exploit the areas where I think I can make an impact from what I have seen. I think I am getting better at that as more time goes on. It worked for me against Birmingham and hopefully it will work for me again.”

Rogers’ third of the season – his other two came in the Carabao Cup – came about from his movement following Hayden Hackney’s brilliantly volleyed long pass to Emmanuel Latte Lathe.

The Ivorian striker’s first touch failed to take him beyond his marker so he cut back and inside before rolling into the path of Rogers running from deep.

Rogers ran at the defence and continued to run into the six-yard area after his attempt at playing in Matt Crooks took him wide. Crooks’ return pass was perfect for his team-mate to flick a finish inside the outstanding John Ruddy’s near post.

He said: “You do need a bit of luck, and that fell to me. First of all it was one of the worst passes I have played, Crooks stretched for it, he had to put it back across goal and I got it.

“I thought I had messed it up so I’m so happy to put it away. There is no better feeling. To score a last-minute winner.  

“I thought we were outstanding all game and created chances without scoring, so I am happy to be the one to put it away.

“As a fan from the bench you are praising everyone and you want it to go in, but you want to make an impact when you do go on.

“We have brilliant players who can come on, that’s what squads are all about. We created chances and that is how good our squad is that we can all make an impact.”

Middlesbrough should have been out of sight before Rogers went on to the pitch. Josh Coburn, who was lively, had failed to convert a few good chances in the first half.

There were also a few penalty claims waved away by referee Rebecca Welch that could easily have been given.

In the second half, Paddy McNair was denied by Ruddy on a couple of occasions and the Birmingham goalkeeper also made a stunning point-blank save to prevent an own goal.

But Rogers’ late winner means Middlesbrough’s fifth straight win has put them firmly in the promotion mix having recovered from a seven-match winless start to the season.

Rogers, with Middlesbrough two points from a play-off spot, said: “The start was difficult when the results weren’t coming in for us, but I thought we stood up tall in difficult times, we showed character to win games and now we have the bite.

“The more experienced players have helped us do that. They are making sure we give our all as younger players. They have been there before and it was the same last season. We are trying to follow those guys and they are leading by example.

“With the quality we have in the dressing room it is easier to adapt than I have experienced before.

“Some players are at a different stage of their careers in this dressing room, it is fascinating for me to soak all of that up and improve myself.”