Afonso Alves is confident he can find the back of the net for Middlesbrough.

The struggling striker told the Daily Mail: "All the strikers go through a time when they don't score but that stage has gone away now. I haven't felt under pressure.

"Sometimes I have played very well but I haven't scored. I knew the goals would come naturally. When I was in Holland, I scored 45 goals in 39 games."

Alves added: "It has been the hardest time of my career.

"I have never been such a long time without scoring goals. I cannot promise that this will lead to a goal-scoring run. But I will work together with all the team to achieve it. When we play against Sunderland next, we will be at home and we will play in a positive way. All the matches are different."