Is Sunderland's back five here to stay after Chelsea win?
Sunderland loanee Alan Browne has impressed for Middlesbrough this season
The Republic of Ireland international joined Boro in the latter stages of the summer transfer window, and after initially beginning the season as a substitute, has started in two of his side’s last three matches. Indeed, even in a 1-1 draw against Wrexham over the weekend he was introduced at half-time, and the 30-year-old also put in a man of the match display against Sheffield Wednesday last week.
But with the likes of Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris also bidding for a starting role in the centre of midfield, Edwards has admitted that Browne’s fine form of late has left him with a bit of a headache.
What has Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards said about Sunderland loanee Alan Browne?
As quoted by the Northern Echo, the Boro boss said: "It's really difficult but difficult in a good way. But that's what you want, people in good form. You don't want your team to pick itself. It's not the best place to be. I have loads of difficult decisions every week and I have done since the start of the season."
Reflecting on Browne’s recent purple patch and influence on the dressing room, he added: “That's why we brought him to the club. He's really consistent and reliable and leaves everything out there all the time.
"He's quietly assured. He's 30 years old now so he knows himself. He's a man who's got his own family. He's a man in the dressing room. He's quiet, assured and a really, really good footballer. He knows what he's good at and does it. He's been part of a promotion very recently which is another reason we wanted him. We thought getting a winner in would help us."
Middlesbrough currently find themselves second in the Championship, having taken 25 points from their opening 12 matches. At the time of writing, they trail leaders Coventry City by three points, with a clash against mid-table Watford to come on Saturday afternoon.
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What has Alan Browne said about his move to Middlesbrough?
Speaking about his exit from Sunderland back in September, Browne said: "Yeah, of course [I’m disappointed], I think a lot of people probably are from last year. We're the players who got the club there and you'd like to think you'd be rewarded with a fair chance the following season.
“I'm disappointed but I completely understand the club's outlook. They want to stay in the Premier League, progress and get as high up the table as they can. They've made the choice to spend that money and bring in players who they think are capable of doing that and they didn't think most of the previous players were.
"It could be a fair assessment because you see it so often where teams go up and come down and go back up and become a yo-yo team. They obviously don't want to do that. I think they've probably looked at Nottingham Forest from a few years ago and tried to replicate that. Hopefully it works out. I'm not going to talk bad about them. I'm disappointed, which is fair, but hopefully I'll get another chance next season."
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