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Alves told to step up
Middlesbrough, 12:06, October 27, 2008 ,
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has challenged striker Afonso Alves to go on a goal scoring run in the Premiership.
The Brazilian hitman ended his drought with a fantastic finish at Ewood Park on Saturday and now Southgate wants that to be the start of a long fruitful run of form.
He told the Gazette: "Afonso has not been scoring but he has remained focused. If the lack of goals got to him then he didn't show it.
"He's maintained the belief in his ability and you could see that from his finish at Blackburn. It was fantastic. Now it's up to him to try to keep it going.
"Strikers tend to score their goals in runs and Afonso is no different. Hopefully it's the start of a rich vein for him."