Kim Hellberg has had the same positive impact as Clement following his November arrival on Teesside.
Norwich claimed the scalp of the leaders, Coventry City, on home soil, but Hellberg has lost only one of his six games at the Riverside, and led title rivals Boro to a 4-0 Preston rout last time out.
“I don’t think there’s a bigger challenge at this moment in time in the Championship than to go to Boro,” said Clement. “We all relish this challenge now, and I’m happy about that. I feel it also in the group that everybody is looking forward to what we can produce there, that there’s confidence in the team, a lot of hunger and desire. That’s what I want to see, and then the results will come in the weeks and months ago,
“It’s a different challenge (to Coventry), different team, different style, different style of playing. I don’t want to go into much details, because I know they will listen to the press conference, also like I’m doing with other teams.
“So it’s a really clear identity and a team who is more difficult to break open. I think they’re really good in their structure and really aggressive.
“In the period that I’m here they are the team that took the most points. That’s the reality. So you see also how they are chasing Coventry now to be top of the league. It’s a very good team.”
Clement delivered a big injury blow yesterday with news influential midfielder Pelle Mattsson is sidelined for a number of weeks with an ankle injury.
A trip to Boro also comes too soon for fit-again attacking midfield duo Amankwah Forson and new signing Paris Maghoma.
Forson has not played since injuring his hamstring at Preston prior to Christmas, while Maghoma is still working his way back to full fitness after two hamstring related issues kept him out for six months.
“I will give you the exclusive on Paris, not for the moment, because it would be very risky from our side to do that with a player who almost didn’t play,”’ said Clement. “We did good testing with him and we started getting to know his body better. It’s within a better condition than we expected when he came in. But it’s still too early to put him in a selection.
“The idea now, the next weeks, to build his body so that he’s really game fit.
“With Forson, he lost a few extra days with the game on Monday so it was too early to get him in the team training. That’s why it’s dangerous for me always to say these things to you guys, maybe I need to stop with that.
“No, I expect him next week in the group training, but it was a little bit too early. And like I said, it’s always an individual call to be made, and it’s difficult to judge that weeks from before, or even days from before, how the body reacts to the last exercises. We want to be good, and we want to be smart with the players.”
On-loan defender Harry Amass is an option for City at Middlesbrough (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
City picked up eye catching away league wins at Wrexham and West Brom this month, and Clement feels the steely mentality required will be crucial on Teesside.
“it’s necessary in sports to have that mindset, whoever you play,” he said. “I had the luck in my career to meet some really amazing players who were million times better than me, like when you played against France and you had to play one on one against (Zinedine) Zidane. You know he’s much better than you, but if you have that mindset before the game, you will never play a good game.
“So I learned out of all these things, and if you believe in yourself, if you believe in the team, you can grow also to a much higher level. When we went with Bruges to Real (Madrid) at the end, we got a point, and we were 2-0 up. A lot of things are possible if you believe in yourself and in your team, and that is growing now in the group.
“And of course, those type of nights at Carrow Road against Coventry will help a lot, because they feel it with all the effort that they made in the weeks before, in all the training sessions, all the meetings, all the games, that they’re growing and growing.
“Of course, it will not be growing and growing like this always. There will be one moment when it’s less good, but then it’s about how you react, and they start to understand that, and you feel this winning mentality finds its way more and more into the team and and that’s what I’m looking for, also these personalities in the team.
“That’s why we had a lot of talks the last few weeks with players, because I need to feel that inside of them if they come into this building – the demand is to work really hard, but to be very ambitious, also as a collective, not only as an individual.”
Ali Ahmed has hit the ground running for the Canaries (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)