“A big boost” – Chris Wilder offers thoughts on Middlesbrough individual’s return

Martin Payero has had a very up and down first season at Middlesbrough, after arriving from Banfield for big money in the summer.

The 23-year-old has taken some time to adjust physically to the style of football in England but does seem to be growing into his role within the Boro squad.

It did look at one stage, that there was a chance that the Argentinian would play no further part this season on Teesside, but Chris Wilder was adverse to that when he spoke to TeessideLive.

He said: “Martin might have a big eight games to be involved in, you just don’t know.

“Certainly, having a player of the quality, class and personality of Martin back in and around it is great.

“He’s a popular boy.

“He would have loved his season to have been a lot better than it has been, but these things happen and you’ve just got to overcome them.

“You’re definitely not counting out what happens in the run-in.

“Having him back is going to be a big boost for us.”

Adding a point of difference into their attacking contingent could be crucial at this stage, to provide another option to the regimented defence and midfield that has been established at The Riverside since Wilder replaced Neil Warnock in the dugout.

The Verdict

It is hard to see Payero fitting into the demanding midfield trio that Wilder has put together, with Jonny Howson, Matt Crooks and Marcus Tavernier being such consistent performers in this play-off push.

However, with the clocks running down Payero would be one of the go to men from the bench to come on and open a team up to get back into a game.

The 23-year-old clearly has a lot of potential and next season Wilder will be looking to find a role for him within the starting XI, depending on what division Boro find themselves in.

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