Middlesbrough: Michael Carrick might have found his solution to issue Chuba Akpom left behind - View | OneFootball

Middlesbrough have endured a rollercoaster of a Championship season, but one trademark of their campaign that has remained a constant throughout is the lack of goals in Michael Carrick's team.

January recruit Finn Azaz is the player with the most Championship goals in the squad this season with nine, but seven of those were for his previous side, Plymouth Argyle.

Of the players who have been with the team from the beginning of the campaign, Marcus Forss and Emmanuel Latte Lath are both tied for top scorer with seven league goals each, per Transfermarkt.

At face value, those numbers may not appear all that impressive, but despite being a far cry from Chuba Akpom's exploits of last season, there are indicators that a fruitful partnership could be in the early stages of development.

Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough formation change

Carrick has rarely deployed a front two during his tenure at Middlesbrough, but when he has, it has been a proven source of obtaining results.

And in Boro's recent victories over Norwich City and QPR respectively, Latte Lath and Forss both found the back of the net and looked to complement each other to great effect.

This switch to a front two has put an end to a fairly dismal run of form for a Boro side that, before collecting nine precious points, had begun to take a serious look over their shoulders.

And it shouldn't be a surprise to see greater success coming from playing two up top, as, although it was predominantly a lone striker system that saw Boro score for fun last season, the service into the forwards was significantly more effective and reliable than it has been this time around.

That creative spark hasn't been as evident in this team, but by having two pressing forwards as opposed to one, you can perhaps force defensive mistakes at an increased rate, and make it simpler for other players to pick them out during games.

The question now is, will Carrick press on with his new recipe for success? Or will he revert to the lone striker approach that he's largely deployed during his reign on Teesside?

Injuries may have prevented the true story being told

With neither Forss or Latte Lath yet reaching double figures on the season, many Boro fans will understandably be clamouring for money to be spent on another striker or two come the summer transfer window.

But when you consider that both players have only been able to make 21 and 20 Championship appearances respectively out of the 37 played so far, that goal return all of a sudden looks considerably healthier.

Especially for Latte Lath, as the Ivorian has had to deal with multiple injury setbacks whilst having to adapt to the ruthless nature of the Championship.

But when last summer's recruit has been available for selection, he's consistently displayed signs of being a player that can score goals at this level, with blistering speed and an outstanding work rate to top it off.

In fact, you'd probably be hard-pressed to find a harder-working front two than Latte Lath and Forss. Some may take that for granted, but having those types of forwards in a high-pressing system that Carrick has always intended to implement is vitally important.

So, with both players now fit and firing in recent outings, a strong end to the season could well be on the cards for the pair.

Whether this partnership has formed because of an optimistic throw of the dice, or because Carrick has made a tactical tweak that will become the new norm going forward, we can't say for certain.

What we can say is that Boro may well have found the cure to their problems in front of goal, and should things keep progressing, this new forward pairing could relieve a significant amount of pressure when it comes to the summer's recruitment plans and finally replacing the goals Akpom took with him.