Rob Edwards urged to "look into" tweaking David Strelec's Middlesbrough role - It involves Kaly Sene | OneFootball

FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit has given his verdict on David Strelec's best role in the team.

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…

David Strelec is still trying to cement his role as a key part of Rob Edwards’ first-team squad at Middlesbrough since arriving late in the transfer window.

The forward is being utilised as the leading number nine, starting in each of the Teesside outfit’s last three league fixtures.

The 24-year-old scored his first Boro goal in the recent 2-1 win over West Brom, but has otherwise been unable to find the back of the net from four league appearances.

There have been calls from some Smoggies to see the forward play in a deeper role, which could allow him to take on some greater creative responsibilities that might get the best out of the squad’s attacking options, and indeed his intelligent link-up play ability.

It remains to be seen whether Edwards will follow through with that, with the Middlesbrough head coach still figuring out the best way to shape his team in these early stages of the campaign.

Rob Edwards urged to push David Strelec into deeper Middlesbrough role

When asked about Strelec’s role in the team, Football League World's Middlesbrough fan pundit, Liam Day, claimed that the forward should be utilised in a deeper role, with Kaly Sene leading the line instead.

He believes that Tommy Conway needs to be rested, and that Sene is potentially providing more of a threat in the side at the moment, urging the manager to make this move for their clash against Portsmouth this weekend.

“I think yesterday (0-0 draw vs Stoke City) we saw at times in the second half that he had a bit of quality when he dropped deep and linked up play,” Liam told Football League World.

“And I think it’s something we need to look into.

“Obviously, Edwards is still learning his best attack. I think that’s been clear to see. We’ve been poor attacking some games, but we’ve still found goals out of nothing.

“I’d really like to see Strelec a bit deeper with Sene up top and [Sontje] Hansen alongside him.

“I was really impressed by Hansen, he was direct vs Stoke, had pace, and he put in some really good balls, so I’d like to see him get a start.

“And it’s hard to bet against Kaly Sene just because he’s been really sharp.

“He was great when he came on, ran about, won the ball a lot, and he reminds me of Tommy Conway a lot, but he does seem a bit better at the moment.

“I think Conway needs a rest, and he has been running a lot, to say the least, so I’d like to see that against Portsmouth.”

Middlesbrough drew 0-0 with Stoke City on Tuesday night to maintain their four-point gap over the Potters.

Boro can hold onto their lead on the Championship table going into the October international break with a win in their next fixture, with Edwards’ side taking the long trip to Pompey on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off at Fratton Park.

Middlesbrough’s positive results are so promising because Edwards is still figuring out what works best in this squad, and Strelec will surely in time feature as a big part of that.

The £6.5m summer signing from Slovan Bratislava has superb goalscoring pedigree to his name, both in Slovakian football and in European competitions, and has made over 30 caps for the Slovakian national team - including against England at Euro 2024, in which he got an assist that game.

The Teesside outfit haven’t been at their best in these opening eight games, but they’ve maintained an unbeaten start and they lead the league table, despite having numerous injuries in defence to contend with, and whilst the Boro boss is yet to figure out what his best attacking unit looks like.

Indeed, the likes of Conway, Sverre Nypan, Morgan Whittaker, Hansen and Delano Burgzorg have all had the chance to impress in attacking midfield roles, whilst Sene, Strelec and potentially still Conway are all battling for a spot in the team at centre-forward too.

This is extremely exciting for supporters, as the potential is there for them to improve even further once a host of these players have all found their places in the side, with perhaps the constant rotation of Boro's forward line playing a part in some of their draws in recent games.

The draw with Stoke is a perfectly solid result, even if the lack of any goals is a concern, given how Mark Robins’ side have also started the season well.