After Boro’s latest game of two halves in the 2-2 draw with Cardiff City, attention now turns to Friday night’s trip to Bolton Wanderers, live on Sky Sports with an 8pm kick-off.

In my previous match preview (West Brom, 29th August), the theme centred around how difficult it was to judge where Boro were as a team, with good performances often lasting only 45 minutes and the recurring issue of conceding avoidable goals. As we approach the quarter mark of the season, you would be forgiven for asking: what has actually changed?

On the face of it, not much. Happily, the points keep rolling in, but in terms of performances and assessing the club’s longer-term promotion credentials, Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off provided further evidence that Kim Hellberg’s Boro remain an inconsistent lot. Not necessarily from game to game, but from half to half.

Against Cardiff, a much-changed Boro produced a pretty awful first-half display, conceding twice to a fluent, aggressive pressing side but one that, ultimately, still looks fairly middling at Championship level. That said, Boro continued to create chances throughout. Unfortunately, Neto Borges was unable to convert any of what might have been an unprecedented double hat-trick.

Some things have started to settle down, however. If the concept of a “best XI” still exists in modern football, then surely Boro’s back four of Brittain, Phillips, Malanda and Borges has now emerged as first choice, with Morris sitting in front of them, Cozier-Duberry established on the right wing and Will Lankshear leading the line.

That leaves four positions still open to debate: goalkeeper, central midfield, left wing and the number ten role.

Goalkeeper, at least here in Diasboroland, is perhaps the most contentious. Sadly, Vitek has still yet to convince. With distribution that appears less assured than predecessor Sol Brynn’s, occasional uncertainty under the high ball, a tendency to parry rather than claim, and now a couple of goals conceded at his near post, questions are understandably being asked about Boro’s 6ft 6in, £7m stopper.

Yet I would still retain him between the sticks, at least for now. The main reason being that I don’t think Brynn is any t overall. I like almost everything Sol brings to the position, except for the glaring shot-stopping error that seems to arrive from nowhere every few games and almost inevitably leads to a goal conceded against the run of play. Vitek may not yet have nailed the spot, but he’s yet to make a real howler either in my view.

What happens if we replace Vitek with Brynn, he performs well for a couple of matches, then drops one of those familiar clangers? Do we switch back again? Maybe. But I’m not convinced that serves the team’s wider interests. At just 22 years old, Vitek is learning on the job and should improve with experience. I would rather ride out the current underwhelmedness, ideally behind a settled back four, and give him every opportunity to fulfil his potential, than revert to a goalkeeper who has already missed a significant opportunity to make the position his own. I suspect, however, that I’m in an increasingly small minority on that one.

Moving to central midfield, Berhalter has become first choice and was probably left out against Cardiff largely because of a heavy workload for both club and country. Even so, is he the right fit alongside Morris?

There is little doubt that the biggest contributor to Boro’s continued defensive fragility is a lack of cover from midfield. Morris cannot do it alone and, increasingly, he is being tasked with dictating play and influencing attacks. There is plenty to admire about Berhalter, but for me the balance of that partnership still feels slightly off.

With no obvious alternative available - at least not one that’s been tried to date - perhaps Hellberg should consider sacrificing the number ten role and introducing an additional box-to-box midfielder. It might provide the extra protection the defence often lacks. If not, it remains a position that deserves attention in January.

On the left wing, the battle appears to be between Conway and Sarmiento. Conway offers more aggression and defensive diligence, while Sarmiento brings quicker feet and perhaps a little more creativity. The end product from both remains somewhat limited, but the effort and work rate certainly cannot be questioned.

Then there is that number ten role, largely occupied by Riley McGree. For me, he simply has not got going this season. He is neither creating enough opportunities for Lankshear nor making enough runs beyond him to become a consistent goalscoring threat himself.

I remain a huge fan of McGree, but despite Boro’s impressive attacking numbers overall, something about his performances does not quite feel right at present. As mentioned, I would be tempted to shift towards more of a 4-3-3, with an additional midfielder alongside Morris and Berhalter to improve the balance of the side.

That said, we know Hellberg is very much a fluidity-over-solidity type of manager and, with two points per game currently on the board, “why change?” is a perfectly reasonable counterargument.

There is certainly plenty for the head coach to consider, particularly given the changes he made against Cardiff which rather starkly backfired.

So what about Bolton Wanderers?

Having secured promotion from League One via the play-offs, Bolton have made a respectable start to life back in the Championship. Four victories from their opening eleven matches have lifted them into a healthy mid-table position and they have built that platform primarily through a reasonable defence, conceding eighteen goals to date – just two more than Boro.

Their standout results have come away from home, including a thrilling 4-3 win at Norwich and an excellent 3-1 victory at Wolves, while a recent 0-0 draw at Southampton also demonstrated their ability to frustrate good sides. Earlier in the season they picked up another solid goalless draw away at QPR.

Manager Steven Schumacher has found life a little more difficult at the Toughsheet (I kid you not!) Community Stadium, however. Bolton’s home record has been noticeably less impressive, with goals proving difficult to come by. They have scored just 15 league goals overall and only six of those have arrived on home turf from their five matches.

Sam Dalby leads their scoring charts with four goals, while Barbadian winger Thierry Gale has contributed three.

In terms of recent form, the Trotters appear to have turned a corner after a difficult September that saw them lose four matches on the bounce. Seven points from their last four games represents a significant improvement. However, three of those fixtures were away from home, while their sole home game in that period ended in a 2-1 defeat to Stoke.

When it comes to winning games in front of their own supporters, it really does seem to be a case of “Toughsheet”.

Notable names on the teamsheet are likely to include Gavin Bazunu, the former Southampton goalkeeper from their Premier League season, and Sam Iling-Junior, who Diasborans supporters may remember from his loan spell during Michael Carrick’s final season at the Riverside.

So, with a decent Bolton defence and a side that appears more comfortable playing away from home than at the Toughsheet, this feels like a game where the hosts will be happy to soak up pressure, stay compact and look to strike on the counter or from set pieces. I expect Boro to dominate possession and territory and, if we can take our chances and limit the space available for Bolton to break into, we should be confident of adding more points to the board.

The challenge, however, is a familiar one. We know Boro can create opportunities against almost anyone in this division. We know they can overwhelm teams when the press clicks and the attacking combinations start flowing. What we do not yet know is whether they can sustain that level consistently across a full 90 minutes and control a game throughout.

Friday therefore feels like another useful marker. Not because the result alone will tell us anything definitive about Boro’s promotion credentials, but because the manner of the performance might. If Hellberg’s side can dominate the game, remain defensively disciplined and avoid the self-inflicted wounds that have characterised too many matches so far, it would represent another step forward in our development.

For now, the points tally remains healthy and Boro continue to occupy the right end of the table. The question is no longer whether this team has enough quality to challenge near the top. The question is whether they can find the balance and consistency needed to turn real encouragement into a serious automatic promotion push.

As for Bolton, let’s hope it’s another case of “Toughsheet”.