Rescued Middlesbrough '˜yet to hit full stride', says Garry Monk

It had taken Fulham 85 minutes to convert their flowing football into a goal courtesy of Aboubakar Kamara’s close-range header, but just two more minutes for them to allow Cyrus Christie to draw the visitors level.

Monk said: “We haven’t hit our full stride yet, but it’s coming. When it clicks, there won’t be many teams who can stop us. We are still improving.

“We knew it would be difficult coming here. Fulham will be challenging again this season. Both teams had an attacking mindset so it was always going to be an open game. Both teams had chances, but both could have been more clinical.

“Our character was on show. We came back quickly for the equaliser and ended up pushing for the winner. The character of the players is undeniable.

“It must have been great entertainment for the fans. Fulham are always a threat but we dealt with them well and we will look forward to Tuesday’s game against Norwich.”

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic will not change his approach despite seeing his side also concede equalisers in the final 10 minutes of home games against Norwich and Cardiff.

Jokanovic said: “We deserved all three points, but you don’t always get what you deserve. We will always try to win games in this way, but this time it killed us at an important point.”

Fulham: Button, Fredericks, Kalas, Ream, Ryan Sessegnon, Norwood (Cisse 90), McDonald, Ojo, Johansen (Kamara 70), Ayite (Kebano 42), Rui Fonte. Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, Odoi, Mollo, Djalo.

Middlesbrough: Randolph, Christie, Fry, Gibson, Da Silva (Friend 76), Baker, Howson, Clayton, Johnson, Bamford (Fletcher 76), Assombalonga (Downing 89). Unused substitutes: Konstantopoulos, Shotton, Leadbitter, Tavernier.

Referee: O Langford (W Midlands).