Peter Whittingham opened the scoring after just 90 seconds from a flick-on by Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink.
Accies made four changes with Canning, Buchanan, Nigel Hasselbaink and Tom Elliot earning starts.
This latest news comes on the day that Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink signed for Cardiff City.
Hasselbaink freed Paul Parry down the left, who put in a deep cross which fell to Whittingham.
But down the other end, Hennessey had to be alert and took two attempts to keep out Hasselbaink.
"It's sad because a club of Middlesbrough's stature should be in the Premier League, " Hasselbaink told BBC Tees.
Whittingham was totally free from Hasselbaink's touch and had time and space to stroke the ball past Wayne Hennessey.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink gave the Chelsea faithful a sparkling display of his talents.
And it was Hasselbaink's turn to get on the scoresheet nine minutes later curling a superb effort into the top left-hand corner.
As the half-hour mark approached, Smith put himself in the way of a Nigel Hasselbaink shot as Accies battled to restore parity.
Hasselbaink was unlucky not to latch on to a Flavio Paixao cross from the left as the hosts searched for an equaliser.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink came off the bench to score Boro's third goal before fellow substitute Massimo Maccarone netted the winner at the death.
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Strachan has been on the look-out for an experienced striker, but failed to reach an agreement with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink earlier this summer.
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The incident seemed to unsettle the Gunners, and Hasselbaink should have done better when he headed wide while unmarked with 10 minutes to go.
He cut-back for the oncoming Hasselbaink who cleverly side-stepped and sweetly lofted the ball into the top left-hand corner to put Cardiff 2-0 up.
Hasselbaink could have put Accies ahead in the 75th minute, but his final ball towards goal was a feeble effort and Smith easily gathered.
With 20 minutes to go Charlton manager Alan Pardew introduced Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and youngster Lloyd Sam in an effort to rescue the game.
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Mowbray won promotion to the top flight with West Bromwich Albion in 2008 and Hasselbaink believes that will stand the club in good stead.
Rommedahl also blazed a shot wide after an exquisite driven crossfield pass from Bent and saw another effort smash into Hasselbaink after a typically direct run.
However, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - who has been sidelined for the last three games with suspension - played in a specially arranged practice match on Tuesday.
With both Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen not enjoying their best seasons last year, much will be expected of the man known as the Romanian bomber.
After 29 minutes Rommedahl teased the home defence and pulled the ball back for Hasselbaink but his low shot lacked direction and was comfortably saved by Antti Niemi.
But on 32 minutes, West Brom went behind as Hasselbaink crossed dangerously and Purse stuck out his leg only to see the ball roll into his own goal.
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Bellamy would be arguably Cardiff's highest-profile signing ever, but Jones did attract former Premier League superstars Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to the Welsh capital a few seasons ago.
St Mirren manager Danny Lennon shuffled his pack after last week's defeat by Inverness, with Carey, David van Zanten and David Barron coming in for Nigel Hasselbaink, Illias Haddad and Lee Mair.
Imrie blasted over Esson's bar five minutes into the second half, after an impressive burst of pace by Hasselbaink had first set up Flavio Paixao then the diminutive former Clyde and Inverness player.
As the half-hour mark approached, the hosts got a fright when Hasselbaink drifted down to the touchline and fed the ball across to Jim McAlister, but Buddies keeper Paul Gallacher managed to parry the shot wide.
Hasselbaink spent two seasons on Teesside between 2004 and 2006, scoring 34 goals under then manager Steve McClaren, and was part of the side that reached the UEFA Cup final in 2006 before losing 4-0 to Sevilla.
Dutch 19-year-old striker Nigel Hasselbaink - nephew of former Chelsea frontman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - came in for his debut, while Andrew Graham, David Buchanan, Kyle Wilkie, Jon Routledge and Grant Gillespie also featured in the starting line-up.
Since then a number of players the club brought through its academy such as Stewart Downing, Lee Cattermole, David Wheater and James Morrison have left, and Hasselbaink believes the club have paid the price for selling their home-grown stars.
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