Middlesbrough defeated the visiting Swansea City 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium and one player has been hailed for his display.
Michael Carrick‘s side are determined to continue their positive run of form heading into the final stages of the campaign.
If they are to realise their slim hopes of a playoff finish, they simply can’t afford to drop points, particularly at home.
So yesterday’s victory was a crucial one for Boro and it kept the pressure on Norwich City, who occupy sixth.
With five cup finals to play, Middlesbrough may need to win at least four of them to stand any real chance.
So they’ll need players to step up now and one player did exactly that on Saturday afternoon.
Lewis O’Brien hailed for display v Swansea City
Lewis O’Brien joined Boro last summer on a season-long loan deal from Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest.
His signature was regarded as a real coup, having starred in Huddersfield Town’s play-off final campaign during the 2021/22 campaign
Yesterday, he proved precisely why he was so sought-after prior to joining Boro, as he produced a ‘tenacious’ display.
“One of the better sides of Boro’s game and where the majority of their success came from was winning the ball back effectively in all areas of the pitch. O’Brien was particularly good at this in a tenacious display,” TeesideLive journalist Craig Johns wrote.
Johns awarded the left-footed midfielder a seven-match rating, with only Luke Ayling and Emmanuel Latte Lath bettering that.
Lewis O’Brien impressive stats v Swansea City
It’s easy to see why O’Brien’s display was labelled as ‘tenacious’, as he won an impressive six of his nine duels and made four tackles, as per Sofascore.
Further, the 25-year-old blocked two shots and made one interception, all while maintaining an admirable 80 per cent pass completion rate.
O’Brien’s loan at the Teeside outfit is set to expire next month, though, he could be made available on a permanent basis, especially if Forest remain in the Premier League.
He doesn’t appear to be in their plans, so regardless of whether Boro gain promotion, they should go all out to land his services beyond this term.
With a market value of £4.2m, according to Transfermarkt, and funds still pocketed from Morgan Rogers’ £15m sale to Aston Villa in January, surely his signature is attainable.
A telling few weeks await Boro and they could yet find themselves in the play-offs come the end of the gruelling 46-game campaign.