GARY Megson has urged his side to start believing in themselves more after a fraught afternoon at the Riverside.

The Wanderers boss watched his side struggle to take the game to Boro after scoring two goals in the opening 10 minutes through Kevin Davies and Matty Taylor.

Consequently, they were forced to defend their lead until Johan Elmander put the result beyond doubt late on.

“We got a terrific start but we didn’t press it home and we were looking to hang on instead of pushing forward,” Megson said. “We’re a bit of an enigma at the moment.

“We spoke at half-time about having that little bit more self-belief and that will come from myself, the staff and everyone at the club. They need a bit of help to believe in themselves.”

Had Wanderers pressed home their advantage, Megson believes the win would have been far more emphatic.

“There was some good stuff but we sat too deep and didn’t have the confidence to use the 2-0 advantage that we had,” he said. “We might have put it beyond them earlier than we did.”

“We tried to switch to 4-4-2 to stop them getting at us quite as much as they did but the players didn’t like it – they wanted to go back to a five, which was fine.”

Wanderers’ mentality may puzzle some, as the win at the Riverside was their third in four games, lifting them four points above the relegation zone into 12th place.

But Megson sees enough in his squad to suggest there is plenty more to come.

“There is a lot of belief from myself and the staff because we see them week-in, week-out.

“Sometimes we become a little bit exasperated because we give the ball away a little cheaply or we finish badly.

“We did both of those against Middlesbrough but they are honest mistakes and we don’t criticise.

“I can say this having worked in management for 12 years, they are a great bunch of lads and there are no issues in the dressing room – which is a big, big plus for us. We’re not a million miles away, although we’re not where we want to be by any stretch of the imagination.”

While Megson was not exactly shouting from the rooftops about his latest victory, he was encouraged that his side had rediscovered their scoring touch.

“There are loads of positives to take but I think there has been all season.

“What we are doing now is scoring one or two more goals, which we have said is all that we have been missing.

“Now we are starting to get a few results, the plaudits as opposed to the brickbats will start coming the players’ way. And quite rightly so.

“That’s our third away win of the season. We didn’t manage one until January last year and were really sloppy on that front.

“It’s not much to shout about but it is certainly better.”