JOE Bennett started his week with humiliation, but capped a memorable seven days with his first goal for Middlesbrough.

A week ago, Bennett was on international duty with England under-21s, and had to sing in front of his new teammates as an initiation to the squad. And he followed that up with a full 90 minutes against Israel at Barnsley, before slotting home at Turf Moor on Saturday to give his side a well-deserved three points.

Now, the Rochdale-born full-back, who was brought up in Northallerton and progressed through the Boro youth ranks, feels that he is an established first-team regular after being brought out of the wilderness by Tony Mowbray.

He said: “It's been a good week, I went away with England which is a great honour, and I got 90 minutes under my belt. Coming here, I got another 90 minutes and a goal, so it's been a fantastic week for me.

“A week ago I was at the England team hotel singing in front of my teammates. It was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. I sang Lean On Me, but I didn't know all the words so I had my phone out reading the words.

“It was just a bit of banter when you go away with the lads, it was all good fun. I've only been away twice with them, it's a new set of lads, 12 new players, so we're all getting to know each other.

“It's a fantastic day for me. This club means a lot to me, I'm grateful that I've got a season under my belt and this season I plan to continue that and keep putting in the performances.”

Bennett's goal was a reward for another swashbuckling performance as a left-sided wing-back, and the 21-year-old feels that Boro's best football comes while they are playing in the 3-5-2 formation which has brought them five away wins on the trot.

And Bennett said: “I can't really remember much of the goal, my heart was beating so fast it was a blur. All of the lads are buzzing, hopefully we can carry that on next week at Crystal Palace.

“I said last week that the fans come expecting us to win, if we can keep playing like that every week we'll do well. The formation suits us, three at the back and wing backs. We had it really hard in the second half but they couldn't get through us but defensively we were solid, and we got our goals.

Bennett showed real maturity after picking up a booking in the first half not to be dragged into a battle with Burnley's right-sided players Ross Wallace and Kieran Trippier, as Boro's defensive rearguard ground out the victory.

The full-back added: “I played with Kieran for England so I know what he's all about. He's a lively lad and he gets up that wing really well. We had to deal with that and we did it well.

“The gaffer said not to get carried away, we've got a set of honest lads and we'll take each game as it comes. You just have to keep clocking up the points.”