Pulis calls shots in bid to boost Boro’s goalscoring ability

BORO’S shot-shy attack has less than two months to redeem itself before Tony Pulis makes another assault on the transfer market.

It’s clear that Boro will struggle to achieve their automatic promotion dreams without consistency of performance up front.

Tony Pulis has rotated his three main men up front without getting the results which might be expected from such competition.

Britt Assombalonga, Jordan Hugill and Rudy Gestede have all had chances without establishing themselves as the team’s No.1 front man.

And No.10 Martin Braithwaite‘s general form has dipped dramatically following his superb start to the campaign.

In many respects, Boro have been paying the price for their inability to bring in all the players that Pulis wanted before the end of August.

Pulis’ comments at the time made it clear that he was extremely frustrated that key players he was seeking were not secured.

Unfortunately, most of his fears have come home to roost, leading to comments last week that he has already discussed the team’s January requirements with chairman Steve Gibson.

It will help, of course, if the service to the front man can be improved during the transfer deadline.

In this respect, Aston Villa winger Albert Adomah will still rate strongly on the Pulis radar.

Boro thought they had Adomah in the bag in August but negotiations collapsed at the 11th hour, allegedly over Adomah’s personal demands.

Adomah claimed afterwards that the deal did not happen because he

was looking for a permanent Middlesbrough’s Rudy Gestede is one of the trio who have been given the chance to be Boro’s main front man return to the Riverside whereas Boro were insisting on a loan deal.

There have been reports from the Midlands that Adomah will not be leaving Villa Park in January and that his representative Anthony Finnigan is seeking a contract extension.

Adomah is 30 now, so it’s possible that he is testing the water at Villa Park. Certainly if no new deal is placed on the table then a return to Teesside might appeal after all.

Adomah was a popular player at Boro during his spell here. He will have no problems settling back into the set-up. If Pulis gets Adomah or any other winger, he will be tempted to bring in a new striker too. It makes you wonder whether Boro have had any regrets about selling Patrick Bamford to Leeds United during the summer. Obviously Bamford’s injury is a huge disappointment for both the player and his new club but if he had stayed at Boro, he might have been the club’s No.1 since the start of the campaign. There was a long spell last season when Bamford was Pulis’ preferred centre-forward. The former Chelsea man responded with nine goals in seven games. Injury eventually cost him his place, at which stage Assombalonga got back into the side. There’s no doubt that Assombalonga will grab more goals if Boro can improve their service into the box because he has a fine goalscoring career history. Boro have been creating very few chances recently which is one of the reason for the dearth of goals, while Assombalonga is not a natural lone striker. He doesn’t hold up the ball very well and when he does, there is often no one in support with whom to inter link. Hugill is arguably a powder keg waiting to explode, but the sooner the bet- ter.

The Teesside-born forward will surely start to get his feet under the table once he starts scoring.

Hugill’s work rate has been excellent since he came into the side. He