Claim made on Luke Ayling and Isaiah Jones dilemma at Middlesbrough | OneFootball

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 adopted a change in formation in their 3-1 win over Norwich City midweek.

Michael Carrick’s side got back to winning ways on Wednesday evening, earning an important three points with victory over the Canaries.

A red card to Borja Sainz after half an hour saw the game swing completely, with Boro overcoming a 1-0 deficit to earn a win at home.

Carrick opted for a back-three formation, which saw Luke Ayling and Lukas Engel utilised at wing-back.

The victory with this new formation could lead to this becoming the norm for Boro for the remainder of the campaign, with the team hoping to close down the gap to the top six.

Boro change in formation verdict

FLW’s Middlesbrough fan pundit Dana Malt is unconvinced that the 3-4-1-2 formation played by the team midweek was behind the positive result.

The red card to Sainz was cited as a major reason for the win, with multiple concerns raised over the back-three system, including Ayling’s performance at right-wing back.

“It’s really hard to say that the formation made an impact against Norwich because I think, above all, the red card is what made a significant impact and spun the game in Boro’s favour,” Malt told Football League World.

“I’d actually say that prior to that dismissal, Boro were really poor and it looked like we were getting caught out far too much in that right-wing back position, in that space behind Luke Ayling.

“And I think that would be a little bit of a problem, particularly if Luke Ayling is that right-wing back, because I just don’t think that he has the recovery pace.

“So, putting Isaiah Jones in that position instead would be beneficial to that system.

“Firstly, I think Isaiah Jones suits wing-back the most, I actually prefer him there to playing him as a winger.

“And, secondly, I think it would just give Boro more of that pace to get pace to get back if they do get caught in behind.

“I do think Jones is very decent in his defensive output as well.

“I’m not going to completely write off the wing-back system, even though we were poor before the red card against Norwich.

“But I think certain tweaks need to be made including personnel, and particularly in that right-wing back position.”

Middlesbrough league position

Middlesbrough are now 10 points adrift of the play-off places with 11 games left to go, sitting 12th in the Championship table.

Carrick’s side does hold a game in hand on their rivals, which could close the gap further, but it will take an impressive run of form to gain the lost ground on the play-off positions.

The win over Norwich midweek was the team’s second in eight league games.

Next up for the Teesside outfit is a trip to face QPR on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off.

Teething problems are expected with formation changes

It is no surprise that the team would experience some difficulties with a formation change, and teething issues are to be expected.

Testing out the back-three system over another couple of games, with those mentioned tweaks, could be a good opportunity to get a greater look at its long-term viability.

The team’s form was becoming quite a concern, so it is positive that Carrick has shown a willingness to change things up.

There may have been some luck with the red card against Norwich, but the team still did well to make the most of their man advantage against a team chasing promotion to the Premier League.