Quartet staking a claim for a starting place in Boro team

FRY, MORRIS, SILVERA AND WHITTAKER CATCH THE EYE IN MANSFIELD DRAW

- By CRAIG JOHNS

A NEW manager means a fresh perspective at Middlesbrough this summer and a new chance for every player to impress.

Preseason will be about trying to impress Rob Edwards and proving to him why you deserve to be a regular starter for Boro next term.

After a training game defeat in Portugal last weekend, Mansfield was our first chance to see what Edwards' Boro looked like.

The friendly ended in a 3-3 draw as Boro squandered a three-goal lead at halftime, which came through goals from Dael Fry, Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker.

But which players stood out? Very much a game of two halves, here are the four Boro players who particularly caught the eye at Field Mill in the first public-facing friendly of the summer.

Dael Fry

You can trace it all the way back to Neil Warnock’s time in charge to find a Boro boss bemoaning the fact that aerially dominant Dael Fry wasn’t a big enough threat from set-pieces. In fact, that’s not just Fry. In recent years, Boro haven't scored anywhere near enough goals from set-pieces.

That could very well change under Edwards, based on the evidence at Mansfield.

Fry opened the scoring for Boro, getting on the end of a teasing Whittaker corner to power a header home. Well-worked with great execution, it was the first of numerous corners from which Boro looked dangerous.