THAT'S more like it. Middlesbrough are back to winning ways after "finding a way" against Stoke City, as Michael Carrick predicted they would.

And they found a way through Ben Doak, the Liverpool loanee who was the game’s best attacking player and set Boro on their way to the much-needed victory, just their third of the season.

Stoke could have no complaints. They had their moments but Boro had 26 shots to the visitors' seven and this time had the answers to make their dominance count. Doak had the answers.

Making his first start, the Liverpool loanee was direct, dangerous and unpredictable – exactly what Boro have been missing at times in the early stages of the season. On this evidence, he could very quickly make the right wing spot his own and will be incredibly hard to displace.

Boro’s 2-0 victory wasn’t simply the story of the teenager flanker, though. Riley McGree, back in the side for the first time since the opening weekend, showed Boro what they’d been missing and added crucial attacking balance. And Hayden Hackney put a couple of below-par displays behind him with a superb showing in the middle of the park, capped by the stunning strike 17 minutes from time that settled the game.

Carrick was dealt two fresh injury blows before the game, with Tommy Conway and Matt Clarke both ruled out. But the squad depth the head coach has talked so much about proved crucial. McGree, who replaced Conway, and Doak, who came in for the dropped Isaiah Jones, will now be difficult to leave out. And a makeshift backline – missing four central defenders – deserves credit for keeping a clean sheet. There was some good news on the injury front with Rav van den Berg back on the bench and returning to action in the second half.

With Narcis Pelach having only taken charge of one Stoke game ahead of the trip to the Riverside, Carrick admitted he could only get a “snapshot” of what to expect from the new-look Potters and how they’d set up.

Stoke tried to play but were pinned back. Come the half-hour mark, the shot counter read 10 to one in Boro’s favour – with Stoke’s only effort coming after a swift counter attack from a home set-piece when Seny Dieng denied Bae Junho.

Despite Boro dominating territory, only two of their first 11 shots on goal were on target, but there was more pace and purpose to their play compared to the second halves against Sunderland and Preston. Key was Doak. The Liverpool loanee only had one thing on his mind every time he got the ball, setting up openings for Hayden Hackney and Neto Borges and pinning back his opposing defender Eric Bocat.

Fitting, then, that it was Doak who forced the breakthrough 11 minutes before the break. He was on hand to tap home after Viktor Johansson could only parry McGree’s shot.

And it was Doak who created the chance that very nearly led to Boro’s second soon after. His floated cross was met by Latte Lath, whose header beat Johansson but cannoned back off the post.

Boro had 16 efforts to Stoke’s two in the opening 45 minutes but there was a warning on the stroke of half-time when Junior Tchamadeu ghosted in unmarked at the back post but could only head into the side netting.

The challenge for Boro, as Carrick has said himself in recent games, was killing Stoke off. They could have done that early in the second half when McGree sparked a swift move from back to front, which finished with Doak and Latte Lath both having shots blocked.

Latte Lath was lively and looked much more like himself after his frustrating afternoon at Sunderland. His curling shot looked destined for the bottom corner but Johansson saved superbly, tipping it around the post.

Boro got the breathing space they craved 17 minutes from time when Hackney added a superb second. The midfielder rounded Ben Gibson on the edge of the box before curling beautifully into the top corner, beyond the outstretched Johansson.

That came after Stoke substitute Sam Gallagher had spurned a glorious chance to level when he headed over from inside the box. Gallagher has a fine record at the Riverside but his afternoon should have ended early. Already on a yellow, he somehow escaped a second caution after a foul on Hackney. It summed up a poor display from referee Stephen Martin, who didn’t need a second invite to flash his cards all afternoon and dished out 11 yellows –  only to then bizarrely refrain from sending Gallagher off.

Carrick, though, won’t lose any sleep over that. The win was what mattered and Boro found a way.