Kim Hellberg is not about to let Middlesbrough get carried away. Boro are second in the Championship table, two points off the summit, having lost just once in their opening ten fixtures, yet the head coach spent much of his BBC Radio Tees interview this week reaching for the handbrake.

"It's 46 games, with 36 left. It's a marathon," Hellberg said. "It's all about picking up points in the beginning of the season to take yourself to a position where you can look at the table in January and see where you are at."

The caution is understandable. Last season ended at Wembley, in a play-off final defeat that left the club, the supporters and the squad to spend the summer asking hard questions. What followed was a late and complicated transfer window, a string of injuries, and a schedule that has served up seven of Boro's first ten opponents from the top half of the table.

That context matters when you read the early numbers. Wins at home to Wolves and away at Stoke represent the kind of results that shift a dressing room's belief. Hellberg acknowledged as much, while being careful not to dress the early table position up as something settled.

"We have played a lot of teams who have actually had a very good start themselves, which is impressive," he said. "With everything that was around, how the last season ended, so many players coming in late, injuries, there was a lot of possible excuses for not starting the season as well as we have done, but the players have been absolutely excellent."

That is a pointed observation. A squad reshaped late in the summer, absorbing setbacks without a downturn in results, is a decent early indicator that something coherent is being built at the Riverside. Whether it holds over a full second-tier campaign is the question Hellberg keeps returning to.

"It's easy to drop some percentage," he said. "It's important for everyone to not do that. Enjoy it, but bring your A-game."

The instruction extends beyond the players. Hellberg was explicit that supporters, too, need to stay sharp rather than assume the early form tells the whole story. It is the kind of message that tends to land better when a club is second in the table than when they are fifteenth.

Next up is Cardiff at the Riverside on Saturday, a side Hellberg described respectfully. The Bluebirds have been solid at home without taking points on the road, but Hellberg was not inclined to treat that as a straightforward opportunity. "They deserve more points than they have got," he said. "They are very brave in their attacking mindset, it's a massive challenge and I think it will be a very good football game."

Press-release language that is not: Hellberg is a coach who appears comfortable saying what he actually thinks rather than what sounds good. Whether that frankness extends to the rest of a 46-game grind remains to be seen.

What is clear is that Middlesbrough have assembled enough early points to give themselves room to breathe if form dips in the winter months. For a club that knows exactly how close to promotion they came last spring, that cushion carries genuine weight. The question is whether the squad, still finding its shape after a disrupted summer, can sustain the level when the fixtures pile up and the nights draw in.

For now, Hellberg's message is simple: enjoy the position, respect the distance still to run.

Frequently asked

Where are Middlesbrough in the Championship table?
Middlesbrough are second in the Championship after ten games, two points off the top, having lost just once so far this season.
Who is Middlesbrough's head coach?
Kim Hellberg is Middlesbrough's head coach. He took charge ahead of the current season following the club's play-off final defeat the previous campaign.
When do Middlesbrough play Cardiff City?
Middlesbrough host Cardiff City at the Riverside on Saturday, with kick-off at 12:30.