Roy Keane raided his former club Sunderland to sign Murphy and David Healy on transfer deadline day and it paid dividends immediately.

Healy crossed from the right side and Murphy sent a shot into the bottom corner from 12 yards. It was the first time he had been on the scoresheet since scoring for the Black Cats in a 2-0 Premier League win over Wigan on February 9, 2008.

Healy and Murphy were two of four changes made by Keane. Elsewhere, defender David Wright and midfielder Jonathan Walters were restored to the starting line-up.

Boro boss Gordon Strachan also made four changes. Lee Miller and Kyle Naughton went straight into the side while fellow transfer-window arrival Stephen McManus made his debut and Andrew Taylor was recalled.....

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Bannan and Taylor-Fletcher linked well again for the striker to double the lead after curling in a cracker.

Injured Boro captain Gary O'Neil was carried off late on to leave Charlie Adam to hammer in a fine third.

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Only a stand-out display from Brad Jones kept Gordon Strachan’s men ahead as Forest finally battered them into submission at a rain-lashed Riverside Stadium.

Davies said: “We deserved to win with the amount of chances we had. I’m pleased with the reaction I got from the players and I’m proud of the unbeaten away record we’re carrying.

“These young players have a lot to learn but we showed mental strength against a very good side.”

On as a substitute for less than a quarter of an hour, Earnshaw quickly grabbed the ball to curl home a delightful 20-yard free-kick for his second goal of the season.

Earlier, David Wheater’s handball denied the Teessiders a first home win over Forest for 36 years.

Earnshaw’s memorable strike cancelled out Middlesbrough’s first goal under Strachan, which finally arrived five minutes into the Scot’s third game in charge.

Impressive midfielder Gary O’Neil, who was handed the skipper’s armband in place of the struggling Wheater, found Adam Johnson, who sped down the left to centre for the lurking Julio Arca.

The Argentina midfielder’s shot was beaten out by Lee Camp, but Lita reacted first to send the loose ball back past the Forest keeper from 10 yards to end a seven-week personal goal-drought with his fourth of the campaign.

Following their morale-sapping home defeat to Plymouth in Strachan’s first match in charge, it must have come as something of a relief for Middlesbrough to be performing away from the Riverside.

Prior to this trip to south London, seven matches had garnered an impressive haul of 14 points from a possible 21 on the road, four more than a deeply-disappointing home return. But against Palace, marooned in the mid-table wastelands of the Championship, Middlesbrough faced a stern test of their promotion credentials.

Neil Warnock is well-versed in the prosaic qualities needed to escape English football’s second tier, and at worst will always strive to ensure his side is battle-hardy, organised and tough as teak to break down.

Strachan’s remit is somewhat different. Middlesbrough fans, tired of the football played under Gareth Southgate, are demanding more from their team. Not only do they want to win, but they want to win in style. On this evidence, there is still much work to be done.

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Middlesbrough’s new boss was left in little doubt as to the stiff task he faces to guide the Teessiders straight back into the top flight after Jamie Mackie’s second-half winner condemned them to a fourth home defeat in five games.

Boro have won just twice in eight games to leave Strachan questioning the fitness of some of the squad he inherited from Gareth Southgate.

The Scot said: “While most of the squad’s fitness levels are fine, one or two need to do a bit of extra work and a programme has been designed with that in mind.”

Boro dropped out of the play-off places as Strachan’s first match in charge fell flat thanks to Mackie’s well-taken fourth goal of the season.

Adam Johnson’s 80th-minute penalty hit a post after Sean St Ledger was sandwiched by two defenders in the box and there was more bad news as Emanuel Pogatetz saw his injury jinx strike once again.

The Austrian international was carried off early in the second half with a nasty head injury following an accidental clash with Plymouth’s David Gray.

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Gordon Strachan has today been confirmed as the new manager of Middlesbrough. The 52-year-old succeeds Gareth Southgate, who was fired last week despite the Teesside club being just one point off the top of the Championship. "Gordon Strachan will be unveiled as Boro's new manager at a press conference at the Riverside at 2.30pm this afternoon," read a statement on Middlesbrough's website this morning. Strachan began his managerial career at Coventry before moving on to Southampton, who he led to the FA Cup final in 2003.

The former Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds midfielder took charge at Celtic in May 2005 and after a nightmare start, when the team lost a Champions League qualifier 5-0 to the Slovakian side Artmedia Bratislava, he led the team to three successive Scottish Premier League titles.

His first game in charge of Middlesbrough will be Saturday's encounter with Plymouth.

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