Kim Hellberg can finally breathe in the Riverside air again.
After five away trips in six games and a draining Carabao Cup exit at Crystal Palace in midweek, Middlesbrough’s head coach is counting down to Saturday’s return home – and he wants the place crackling when Norwich City arrive.
Back to the Riverside, back to the noise
Those miles on the road have taken a toll. Three away games in a single week, one of them a cup tie in London, is a demanding schedule for any squad, never mind one still moulding itself under a relatively new head coach.
So the sight of the Riverside, full and loud, is exactly what Hellberg has been craving.
Norwich come into it with momentum of their own, recovering from a shaky start to stitch together wins and climb the table. It’s a fixture with a recent history, too. The last time the Canaries visited Teesside, a Hayden Hackney strike lifted Boro joint-top of the Championship and sent the stadium into chaos.
Hellberg hasn’t forgotten.
“Norwich are a very good side. I remember that game last season, it was a brilliant atmosphere and I remember the last five minutes were absolutely crazy,” he told BBC Radio Tees. “It will be a very tough game but the atmosphere in all our home games has been very good.”
That noise, that edge, is what he wants again.
A club hardened by last season
Hellberg keeps coming back to one theme: togetherness forged by adversity.
“After everything that happened last season, everyone has got stronger together. Everyone has raised their level – players, supporters, coaches – everyone together to go to a higher level,” he said. “I think the atmosphere has been very good in every game we have played and I am looking forward to being back against a very good side.
“We need the supporters being on our side and doing everything they can to help get us over the line against a very good opposition.”
There’s no dressing it up. He expects a stern examination.
Respect for Clement’s Norwich
If Boro are evolving, so too are Norwich under Philippe Clement, a coach Hellberg clearly respects.
“Philippe Clement has done a brilliant job, he's a very good coach, builds a strong and well-coached team,” Hellberg said. “He turned the season around for Norwich last year - they were in danger when he arrived and have built through that. He's a top coach and will give us a lot of different and difficult challenges.”
Norwich’s revival under Clement has shifted them from trouble to threat. They arrive as a team with structure, confidence and a clear identity – exactly the kind of opponent that tests whether a side like Boro truly are, as Hellberg believes, moving to a higher level.
“I think it is going to be a very good football game, two good teams against each other, brilliant kick-off time on a Saturday and we are looking forward to it.”
Lankshear sets the standard
Up front, one of the symbols of that new Boro energy is Will Lankshear.
The 21-year-old missed out on the Championship Player of the Month award on Friday, but seven goals in eight games since his summer move from Tottenham tell their own story. For Hellberg, the numbers are only half of it.
“I think he has done brilliantly, he's a good boy and has come into the team perfectly. He works very hard on and off the pitch and that's the culture we are trying to create here.”
That culture matters. Hellberg talks about a dressing room that has changed in front of his eyes.
“I have seen a massive difference in the group, how they have progressed from the first day here to how we have gone forward and take care of each other in a very good way.
“I have so many good players here who compete in a brilliant way to try and help Middlesbrough win games and Will is one of them and it helps when you score a lot of goals.”
Competition, goals, and a home crowd ready to roar.
Now comes the real question: can Middlesbrough turn that atmosphere and that togetherness into another statement result against one of the Championship’s most dangerous visitors?
