Crucial Middlesbrough factor named as Sol Brynn passes huge test of character and quality

Michael Carrick heaped praise on young goalkeeper Sol Brynn as he passed both quality and character tests to help Middlesbrough win in his Championship debut at Oxford United.

Boro won 6-2 on another excellent day, as Brynn was called into the starting line-up at the eleventh hour due to illness for Seny Dieng. Though he did concede two goals, the Boro academy graduate also pulled off a couple of really big saves in the game, while he also set Boro off on an attack for their second goal with some excellent distribution.

It was only the 24-year-old's third appearance of the season after returning from loan in the summer to establish himself as Dieng's main deputy on Teesside. In what was his first game since September's cup exit to Stoke City, and in what were awful conditions for a goalkeeper, the Boro boss was delighted with his keeper - noting the importance of having such high-standards in training to make it a possibility.

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The Boro boss said: “He found out [he was playing] yesterday [Friday]. It was tough. He played at the Riverside a couple of weeks ago [For the U21s] and that was the first game he’d played since Stoke. So he’s not had loads of football, but it just shows how important training is to making sure you’re prepared because you never know when it might come.

"He probably wouldn’t have thought the opportunity was coming if you asked him at the start of the week. In a game like this - wet, slippy pitch, quick - it wasn’t an easy one to deal with, but he did fantastically well. It was going to be that type of game where we expected mistakes to be made.

"We spoke at the end there about tightening up a little bit. We still gave them a bit too much at certain points, but Sol stepped up and made some big saves. He had a real calming presence. It's not easy after not playing much football. I'm really happy for him”