The joys of a solid defence at Boro

WHAT a difference a tight defence makes!

- ERIC PAYLOR

Rob Edwards’ magnificent work in strengthening his defensive lineup is the major reason why Middlesbrough are up there in the heady heights of the top two in the Championship.

Who'd have thought that Boro would have the joint best defensive record in the division - along with Stoke City - at this stage, with just eight goals conceded?

And, boy, how much do we need it.

Let's face it, at the moment the Boro attack is currently no more productive than it was at the end of last season when the team was shipping goals and becoming rather boring to watch.

Michael Carrick did a fine job in the early part of his time in charge, but his policy appeared to be ‘however many goals the opposition score, we have to score at least one more’.

It worked well when Boro were scoring goals for fun, but not so well when the lads started to struggle in front of goal.

Edwards’ policy is clearly different. His tack is that we make sure the opposition don’t score and - while we still place plenty of accent on attack - we need only one goal to secure three points.