If there is ever a way to make promotion rivals sit up and take notice, then Middlesbrough found the formula in thrashing Bolton Wanderers 5-1 to go top of the Championship.

Taking three points on a Friday night before anyone else has played is always the perfect way to set up the weekend.

But it was the manner of Boro's display which really laid down the marker to those eyeing a place in the Premier League next season.

Championship top scorer Will Lankshear scored twice more - taking his tally to 11 goals in 12 league games this season - to underline his growing reputation as the division's leading marksman.

Yet it was the underlying statistics that made this a hugely impressive team display.

Boro's play was slick and incisive as they registered 31 shots at goal, 19 of which came in the first half alone. Of those 31, 12 were on target, with the 4.16 expected goals (xG) racked up by Kim Hellberg's side underlining the number and quality of chances they created.

They scored five, and it could have been more had it not been for a string of impressive saves by Bolton keeper Gavin Bazunu.

Former Bolton manager Keith Hill, working as a pundit for BBC Radio Manchester, spent no time criticising the performance of Steven Schumacher's men, and instead described their opposition as "special", and said they "worked like soldiers".

Hill told BBC Radio Manchester: "Their creative players are artists and so gifted, and I'd go as far as saying that they work harder than almost any other Championship squad.

"Middlesbrough were exceptional tonight, and if that is the bar in this league then they will finish in the top two.

"I think the Bolton staff, players and fans know they've been beaten by the best team in the Championship."

Middlesbrough's victory leaves them on 25 points after 12 games - the same tally they had at the equivalent time last season.

Boro were top of the table in early February last term after a run of six straight victories but Hellberg's side then won only four of their final 15 league games to finish fifth before going on to lose to Hull in the play-off final - but only after being reinstated when Southampton were expelled for spying.

However, former Middlesbrough midfielder Neil Maddison believes Boro hit new heights under their Swedish boss at Bolton, who had impressively beaten Wolves and drawn at Southampton in their two previous games.

"If you take away the Bolton goal at the end of the first half, that was a five-star performance, without a shadow of doubt," Maddison told BBC Radio Tees.

"It slowed down a little in the second half, but it was a mature display, and I would say that it was, without question, the best performance under Kim Hellberg."

And Maddison had special praise for player of the match Lankshear.

"Will Lankshear's movement was ridiculously good tonight, and he is a joy to watch," he added.

"In every game I've seen him in, he has learned to mix up how he plays. He's changing up his runs, coming deep, and he is getting better and better as the season goes on."

In Lankshear, Middlesbrough have one of the buys of the season, having signed him from Tottenham for an intial £10m in July.

He now has 13 goals in all competitions for Boro this season, and is four goals clear of Southampton's Cyle Larin at the top of the Championship goalscoring chart.

The 21-year-old said he was "lucky and honoured" to be a member of the squad.

"It probably could have been about 10, I should have scored a few more and the lads were outstanding," Lankshear told BBC Radio Tees.

"You have two top wingers in Tommy [Conway] and Amario [Cozier-Duberry] and I just had to get in the box and tap it in. I'm very lucky and honoured to be part of such a great team.

"It's some start, I can't sit here and try to be humble, it's something I had my eyes on."

Boro head coach Hellberg was similarly impressed with the "beauty" of his side's performance.

"I have to give Bolton credit because they were also trying to play and be aggressive and take control of the game," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"Then the games can be open and for people watching, this is why football can be back and forth and we scored some absolutely brilliant goals.

"There was a beauty in terms of how we played and how good we were around the box, and how many chances we created.

"So many people contributed, including five from the bench, which also is a very positive thing, and just enjoying all that in front of our away fans. Unbelievable."

Follow Middlesbrough on BBC Sounds

Subscribe and listen for everything you love about Boro