Ipswich Town star is "not going to be easy" for Middlesbrough FC to contain - He's "filling me with the most fear" | OneFootball

FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit has earmarked Ipswich Town's Jaden Philogene as the main threat on Friday evening

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Middlesbrough host Ipswich Town on Friday evening, in what will almost certainly be an enthralling affair between two sides in the upper echelons of the Championship table after nine matches.

Middlesbrough have probably been most people's surprise package in the early stages of the Championship campaign, certainly in a positive light, sitting second in the league table after nine games, with five wins, three draws and one defeat at this stage.

Under new boss Rob Edwards, who took charge this summer following the dismissal of Michael Carrick, Boro have exceeded early expectations, and up until their last match, a defeat away to Portsmouth, they led the Championship table, but have since been overtaken by Coventry City.

Despite their excellent start to the season, Boro are without a win in three matches, and will have to be at their very best to come away with the three points when they host Kieran McKenna's Ipswich later this week.

'Fast and direct', Jaden Philogene has been earmarked as Ipswich Town's danger man ahead of Middlesbrough

Speaking to Football League World, Middlesbrough fan pundit Liam has outlined which Ipswich player he fears the most ahead of Boro's home tie to the Tractor Boys on Friday night.

Liam, perhaps unsurprisingly, has labelled Jaden Philogene as the Tractor Boys' standout threat — and with good reason. The talented winger, who was signed for £20 million from Aston Villa back in January, has re-established himself as a potent Championship force, scoring five goals from his opening seven appearances including a stunning hattrick in Town's 5-0 rout of Sheffield United and an equally-impressive solo strike to help a 3-1 East Anglian Derby victory over Norwich City.

In Liam's view, Philogene's speed, trickery and creativity, alongside his ever-increasing goal threat, is going to give Middlesbrough a difficult evening.

Liam said, "I must say, Jaden Philogene is filling me with the most fear. He's had such a good start to the season; he's been probably their best player, I'd say.

"[He] creates a lot out of nothing. That goal against Norwich was outrageous; he had no right to score from there, and the movement on the shot was incredible.

"He's so fast and direct, he'll take a man on, and he can create something out of nothing anytime on the pitch, so you've just got to be really careful with him.

"It depends whose starting at full-back, they're going to have a really tough job defending him, but I do feel we will be able to contain him, but then you've got Jack Clarke on the other side, so it's not going to be easy.

"Jaden Philogene is the player that I fear the most."

Rob Edwards, Middlesbrough, must keep Jaden Philogene quiet to stand a chance of victory against Ipswich Town

Having won their opening four league matches, Boro have won just once in their last five, and all of a sudden, a victory against Ipswich becomes all the more important to return to winning ways and maintain their spot in the top two.

However, no game in the Championship is easy, and against newly-relegated Ipswich, who possess one of the best squads with one of the best managers in the league, victory becomes even more difficult.

Ipswich has an abundance of attacking talent, including Philogene. They also possess the likes of Chuba Akpom, Jack Clarke, George Hirst, Sammie Szmodics, Kasey McAteer, Ivan Azon, Wes Burns and the Championship's record signing, Sindre Walle Egeli.

Alongside Stoke City, Boro have the best defensive record in the league, having only conceded six goals thus far, and will be eager to maintain that statistic beyond Friday, but to do so, they must find a way to keep Philogene, who already has five league goals this season, quiet.