“Very underrated” – Middlesbrough fan pundit names 25-year-old as club’s unsung hero | 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 will be aiming to book their place in the play-offs on Saturday when they head to Deepdale to face Preston North End.

Boro will extend their season past the 46 game mark if they beat the Lilywhites and either Sheffield United or Luton Town drop points in their meetings with Fulham and Reading.

One of the individuals who is expected to feature as part of a back-three this weekend is Anfernee Dijksteel.

The 25-year-old has made 37 appearances for Middlesbrough in all competitions this season and has started in each of the club’s last nine league fixtures.

Currently averaging a respectable SofaScore match rating of 6.84 in the Championship, Dijksteel will be confident in his ability to produce an assured display against Preston.

Asked to name who she believes is the club’s unsung hero this season, Middlesbrough’s FLW fan pundit Dana Malt has admitted that Dijksteel’s performances have been particularly impressive.

Speaking to FLW, Malt said: “I think Anfernee Dijksteel is my unsung hero this season.

“I just think he’s a very, very underrated defender even within the Middlesbrough fan base.

“In terms of defensive work, he’s just so astute and composed and whenever it looks like maybe he’s been beaten by a tricky winger, he’s right back there with the recovery runs.

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“He uses his body incredibly well to shut out anybody that’s trying to get past him and yeah, he’s so good at recovery defending and I’d go as far as saying he’s the second best defender at the club behind Dael Fry.

“He’s had a good season, there are still improvements to be made in terms of bringing the ball out from the back.

“When pressured I think you can kind of see there is a potential weakness there but in terms of defending, Anfernee Dijksteel is fantastic.”