What Darragh Lenihan's arrival means for Middlesbrough's defence and the potential reshuffle

Chris Wilder needed defensive reinforcements this summer after releasing Sol Bamba and Lee Peltier. He's also since sold Nathan Wood, while Grant Hall is expected to leave Middlesbrough too. It left the Boro boss with just three senior centre-backs at his disposal.

In that respect, adding Darragh Lenihan is a no-brainer then. The centre-back was available on a free transfer and is someone Wilder has coveted for a long time, having tried to sign him for Sheffield United five years ago. Instead, the Republic of Ireland international opted to stay at Blackburn where he would establish himself as one of the league's best defenders under Tony Mowbray, before finally deciding to link up with Wilder at Boro this summer.

At 28, he signs a four-year deal on Teesside and having rarely missed a game as captain of Rovers in the last few years, he comes to Boro with the obvious intention of wanting to play games and get Middlesbrough back to the Premier League. It's a really positive signing and a real statement of intent.

Having said that though, there is one question mark surrounding the signing, and that's what that means for Boro's other defenders. As noted, of course they need more depth there, but the slight uncertainty is because Lenihan, while at Blackburn, has always been considered a right-sided centre-back - the one position we thought Boro had their two players in ahead of this summer's transfer window.

Paddy McNair, who remember will miss the first game of the season against West Brom as a result of his red card on the final day of last season at Preston, played the majority of last season under Wilder as the left-sided centre-back. It was a role he played really well in a fairly settled back three, but Wilder had gone