Kim Hellberg Prepares for Riverside Return Against Norwich

Kim Hellberg cannot wait to walk back out at the Riverside.

After a brutal run of five away games in six, including Tuesday’s Carabao Cup exit at Crystal Palace, the Middlesbrough head coach has his team back on home turf on Saturday – and he wants Teesside to sound like it did the last time Norwich came to town.

Hellberg calls on Riverside roar

“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,” Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees.

That night, Hayden Hackney’s winner sent Boro joint top of the Championship and turned the Riverside into a cauldron. Hellberg wants the same noise, the same edge, as Philippe Clement’s visitors arrive in better shape after a shaky start to this campaign.

“It will be a very tough game but the atmosphere in all our home games has been very good,” he said. “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.”

The Swede has spent the early weeks of the season living out of a suitcase, his team shuttling around the country. Now comes the reset he has been craving: a Saturday, a 3pm kick-off, and a packed home end.

“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,” he added. “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.”

Respect for Clement’s Norwich

Hellberg’s admiration for Clement is clear. Norwich looked in trouble when the Belgian arrived last season; they do not look like that now.

“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.”

Two coaches with clear ideas, two sides that want the ball. Hellberg is expecting a proper contest, not a grind.

“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 leading the line and the culture

Up front, Will Lankshear is fast becoming the symbol of Hellberg’s Boro.

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. Hellberg is looking beyond the numbers.

“I think he has done brilliantly, he's a good boy and has come into the team perfectly,” he said. “He works very hard on and off the pitch and that's the culture we are trying to create here.”

That word – culture – matters to Hellberg. He has watched the dressing room shift since he arrived, standards rising, players looking after each other.

“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.”

Norwich know all about the noise the Riverside can generate when Boro smell an opportunity. Hellberg is banking on that sound again – and on a young striker who has wasted no time making this stadium feel like home.