Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher offered his verdict after Middlesbrough's 5-1 victory

Steven Schumacher says Middlesbrough are as good as he’s seen in the Championship since Enzo Maresca’s 2024 title-winning Leicester City side after their 5-1 victory over his Bolton Wanderers side.

Will Lankshear added another two goals to his collection at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, while Aidan Morris, Amario Cozier-Duberry and an own goal forced by Adilson Malanda’s header sealed a memorable evening for Kim Hellberg’s side.

For Bolton, the heavy defeat came after a really positive period for the newly-promoted side, who recently beat Norwich City and Wolves, lost only narrowly to Stoke City, and drew at Southampton last time out.

“It was a tough night and a difficult game,” Schumacher said after. “We knew that was going to be the case before it started and it was evident there was a gulf in class tonight between the two sides.

“For us to say that for the first time in 12 games is respectable. We've been in every game that we've played this season, but tonight, we're just up against a better side.

“It's four games that are really difficult, really physical and if somebody had said to us at the start of these four games that you'll take four points from them, we'd have taken it.

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“Now, it's probably one game too far tonight. I felt we were a little bit, I wouldn't say off it with the pace because we tried as hard as we possibly could, but they were just better.

“They had a little bit more speed, a little bit more physicality, a lot more quality than us. I said to you at the start, they're very difficult to play against because people just pop up all over different places because they're really well coached. So tonight, as I say, sometimes you've got to take it on the chin and accept it.”

Whether it be Schumacher, fans on social media, or regular watchers of Bolton from the press box, the feeling from a Bolton perspective was that Boro were the best side they’d seen for quite some time.

Asked if they were the best Championship side he’d ever come up against, Schumacher said: “We went up against the Leicester team under Maresca and they were outstanding.

“When Boro are really at it, and when they get the tails up and the confidence starts to flow, it's really difficult to stop.

“We always try to make sure you pack a punch into us, don't accept it and roll over, which I don't think we did tonight. I think we definitely kept going, we kept trying.

“Obviously the last five or ten minutes were difficult when we just have to limit damage and try not to concede any more.

“But up to 60 minutes and probably 70 minutes when we're in the game, we were always a threat.

“The opportunities that we had were clear, they were there, we just didn't have enough quality to take them and then they went down the other end and took theirs. So it was a really good performance against us.

"They're going to be up there, they've gone top of the league tonight and so far, what we've played against, it was the best performance that we've been up against."

Boro are expected to compete for promotion this season, and will do so on this form. The comparison to Maresca’s title-winning Leicester side would be a welcome outcome, with the Foxes achieving 97 points back in 2024.

One of the sides who will hope to stop Boro are Southampton - with no love lost between the two clubs after last season’s Spygate scandal.

With Bolton managing a goalless draw against Tonda Eckert’s side last weekend, Schumacher was also asked about the difference between the two games.

“They were more clinical than what Southampton were,” the Wanderers boss said. “They had a bit more about them, I think, going forward. We did our best to try and contain them but it was difficult.

“And when they get ahead in the game and we have to come out and we have to be trying to take the initiative, especially at 3-1 when we're going to have to go for it and commit numbers forward, there's always that risk element of you're going to get done on a counter-attack, which happened for the last two goals. They were top drawer and we did our best but tonight it just wasn't enough.”