Goalkeeper Mark Travers is enjoying life on Middlesbrough and is excited for what proves to be an intriguing run-in as Boro battle for a top-six spot.
Travers joined Boro in January from Premier League side Bournemouth. The Ireland international had played second-fiddle to Chelsea loanee Kepa Arrizabalaga at the Vitality Stadium and was desperate for game-time in the second half of the season. He’s already had plenty on Teesside, impressing in a Boro shirt with some vital saves so far.
Those saves have helped Boro turn some patchy form around as they came into the international break with only one defeat in their last five games. It leaves them just three points off the play-off places with eight games remaining. Though Boro have struggled for consistency so far this season, they ultimately have it all still to play for - and that’s an exciting prospect for the one-time Championship promotion winner.
“It’s been really good,” Travers told BBC Tees of his Boro loan so far. “It’s always hard coming in in January when a lot of the games are already played. But I was excited to come here. All the lads in the squad have been great with me as well, so it’s been easy to settle.
"I’m just really enjoying playing for the club, and really excited for the end of the season now. The main focus for us and the club is to just focus on us. When you start adding up points and getting carried away heading into the next fixture it becomes really difficult.
"You end up putting too much pressure on yourself while thinking about things that aren’t in your control. All we can do is go into the next game prepared to perform well and trying to get a win. We’ll focus on what we can do and hopefully that’s more than enough come May.”
Travers has two clean sheets to date, with Boro’s struggles since his arrival doing the Ireland keeper few favours in that regard. The most recent came last time out against Luton Town where Travers’ goal was bombarded throughout. The Cherries loanee withstood the pressure and kept his slate clean with some top saves to earn Boro what could be a valuable point.
His performance earned him the man-of-the-match award and also praise from Boro head coach Michael Carrick. The Boro boss noted how Travers’ form was particularly impressive because already, in his short spell, he’d played with numerous defensive combinations due to injuries. At Luton, Neto Borges and Jonny Howson made a makeshift central defensive partnership in front of him.
Praising the pair for making his life easier, Travers said: “It’s been a bit chop and change over the last few games, which isn’t ideal. But Neto has been class. He’s an unbelievable character and has a superb mentality. He’ll just come in and wherever in the team the manager needs, he’ll put his body on the line.
“And then obviously, Jonny comes in after being out for an extended period of time, with the injuries piling up. He hasn’t played or trained much, so it just shows the mentality. To have those two in front of me, having that experience to work with, has been great.”
On the Luton draw itself, he added: “It’s a good point in the end and good to get a clean sheet as well. Obviously we came to win the game and there’s an element of disappointment not to do that. I thought the lads in front of me were excellent. We had to weather the storm first half.
“We knew their strengths and had to deal with a lot of long balls into the box and physical play. It was tough, but we reacted well, tried to push and get the winner, but it didn’t come and we have to just take the point. It shows good character to battle through and obviously, at this stage of the season, we’ll take whatever points we can get.”