Vossen is the brightest attraction in Boro's five-star show

JELLE VOSSEN must think that goals are like the London buses that trundle along the roads that lead to Millwall’s New Den – you wait more than three months for one to arrive, and then three come along in the space of half an hour.

Hailed as Middlesbrough’s key summer signing after the club spent more than 12 months tracking him and trying to prise him from his Belgian employers at Genk, Vossen has been a late arrival to the Teessiders’ promotion push.

His first 12 appearances failed to produce a goal, and while there were glimpses of the talent that have earned him 12 caps for the Belgian national side, his tally of four Championship starts prior to Saturday was a reflection of his status in the pecking order behind Kike, Patrick Bamford and Lee Tomlin.

Was the 25-year-old destined to join the lengthy list of Middlesbrough attacking signings who have failed to live up to their billing in the last few years? On the evidence of Saturday’s sensational first-half display in South London, you’d have to think it’s unlikely.

Having been denied a sixth-minute opener when David Forde clawed away his header from a position that might well have been behind the goalline, Vossen regrouped to deliver a 23-minute goalscoring master-class.

His first goal in a Middlesbrough shirt will take some bettering, with him scampering onto Kenneth Omeruo’s long ball in the inside-left channel before hooking a wonderful lofted finish over the advancing Forde.

His second saw him stroke home adroitly after the hugely impressive Adam Reach laid the ball back into his path, and he completed his hat-trick as he swept home a loose ball after Bamford’s initial effort had been blocked in the area.

Three chances; three goals. So much for struggling to come to terms with life in English football.

“Everybody was telling me that if I got one goal here, the rest would follow,” said Vossen, who scored more than 100 goals for Genk before moving to Middlesbrough. “That’s what’s happened.

“The first one should have been my header that was stopped on the line, and when that wasn’t given, I thought, ‘Oh no, not again’. But I kept on doing my task and as you can see, the goals followed.

“I always had confidence that this would happen. I’ve never hesitated or doubted myself, but the longer it takes, the more the pressure builds, not from me, but maybe from the fans and the people on the outside. I always kept on working very hard on the training ground, and this proves the hard work pays off.”

It is to Vossen’s credit that he did not allow his focus to waver when he was struggling to force his way into the team at the start of the season. Other players, signed with the expectation of being the main attraction, might have displayed their displeasure when they were shunted to the sidelines, but the reports of Vossen’s conduct have been universally positive.

Aitor Karanka clearly values him highly, and there is every chance of his game time increasing markedly in the second half of the season. He is currently on a season-long loan from Genk, but Boro’s backroom team will be patting themselves on the back after insisting on a clause that will enable them to sign him permanently next summer.

“Jelle’s attitude has always been more than 100 per cent,” said Karanka. “It is difficult for a player who was the captain of his former club and a very important player there, and who has played for his national team, to come here in the second division and not have the opportunities to play.

“But he has been working every single day, and his standards have never dropped. Last week (against Blackburn), he had a very good chance but couldn’t score, but here, he had his chance again and finally he scored. He deserves this kind of game.”

Vossen forms part of an embarrassment of attacking riches at Karanka’s disposal, so it is to the Spaniard’s immense credit that he continues to select the right team for the right match on the majority of occasions.

Saturday’s selection was especially astute, and reflected a correct belief that Millwall would continue with the three-man defence they adopted in the closing stages of their previous game against Bournemouth.

Karanka wanted his side to exhibit as much pace and attacking movement as possible in an attempt to exploit the gaps he envisaged appearing, hence the decision to dispense with Tomlin and Kike in order to field Vossen and Bamford in a rare 4-4-2 formation.

Reach and Albert Adomah were instructed to push on as much as possible on the flanks, and the result was an opening 45 minutes in which Middlesbrough’s dominance was total.

The visitors might well have had three goals before Vossen finally broke the deadlock in the 21st minute, and it took just seven more minutes for them to double their lead as Bamford received the ball from Reach, stepped inside an opposition defender and rolled an inch-perfect low finish into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Reach finished the first half with two assists, and his rampaging runs down the left-hand side were a key feature of Boro’s attacking all afternoon. Of all the things that have happened in the opening four months of the season, the speed of the 21-year-old’s development is perhaps the most unexpected and impressive.

Time and time again he found himself driving beyond the Millwall defence, and whereas in the past his delivery might have been found wanting, now he possesses the strength and confidence to hold off opponents before playing a killer ball.

If Boro fans needed a contrast between the fluency of the current attack and the more stilted nature of previous forward lines, it could be seen in the guise of Scott McDonald, whose departure in the summer of 2013 is hardly a source of much regret now.

To McDonald’s credit, he grabbed a Millwall consolation when he rifled into the roof of the net with 12 minutes remaining, but within the space of 60 seconds, Boro swept to the other end of the field and Emilio Nsue set up substitute Kike for a crisp low finish that went in via the post.