Middlesbrough chief Kim Hellberg addresses 'easy' talk after another Championship win
KIM HELLBERG knocked back any suggestion that management in the Sky Bet Championship is a breeze after Middlesbrough extended his perfect start with a 2-1 victory at Charlton.
Boro were 2-0 up at the break after goals by Riley McGree and Morgan Whittaker, the latter scoring for the fifth successive game.
Charlton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski made a number of saves to prevent the visitors from being out of sight.
There was a frantic finish when George Edmundson headed into his own net from Charlton substitute Rob Apter's cross with nine minutes of normal time remaining.
But for long spells the Teessiders seemed in total control with Hayden Hackney, Whittaker and Delano Burgzorg pulling the strings as Hellberg made it nine points from nine since his appointment as head coach.
In the process, Boro closed the gap to leaders Coventry to five points.
Asked about it being easy, the Swede said: "No, it is not. But I luckily have a very good squad and a lot of very good people around me. It is small margins, winning or losing games. The way we have performed over those three games we have been the best team.
"It was a very good performance, especially the first half. We should have scored some more goals - we had some brilliant crosses by Bangs ( Alex Bangura) that we were close to getting on. We had two or three more big chances. Then we showed character in closing the game down in the second half.
"I'm most proud of Morgan (Whittaker) for the first goal when he lost the ball and did a very good reaction to win it back for us. That becomes a key thing for us not to let them come on the counters.
"Then every time he has a chance to finish, he has top quality.
"The mood is good. The players are happy and have a lot of energy."
There was a minute's applause before kick off in memory of Charlton supporter Norman Barker, who passed away during Saturday's abandoned home game against Portsmouth.