ONE-and-a-half months in, and it is fair to say that a number of Middlesbrough’s January signings have not had the impact that would have been desired when they agreed to move to Teesside.
Ryan Giles has looked a shadow of the player that rampaged down Boro’s left wing two seasons ago, Kelechi Iheanacho is yet to score his first goal in a Boro shirt, and while Samuel Iling-Junior has slotted in effectively at left-back in the last couple of matches, he is yet to really look like a player who was strutting his stuff in the Champions League in the first half of the season.
When it comes to Mark Travers, though, Boro’s business at the turn of the year could hardly have been more impressive. Lacking a fit senior goalkeeper, with Seny Dieng and Sol Brynn both sidelined, the Teessiders needed someone able to step straight into their first team for the second half of the season.
Travers, a senior Republic of Ireland international who made five Premier League starts for Bournemouth in the first half of the campaign, fitted the bill, and in his nine outings since joining Boro on loan, the 25-year-old has more than justified the decision to turn to him in January.
Athletic, confident and dominant under the high ball, Travers has arguably been Boro’s standout performer in the last month. If the Teessiders are to force their way into the play-off places in the final eight games of the season, there is every chance their Irish shot-stopper will be key to their success.
“He's (Travers) got a really good character,” said Boro boss Michael Carrick. “He's a good goalkeeper and he's had to make some good saves for us. That’s what we obviously brought him in for and hope for. We don't want him to have to make saves, but when needed, and especially when contributing to a clean sheet, it’s a big one for us.”
Travers’ successful start to his Boro career is all the more impressive given the defensive upheaval that has been playing out in front of him.
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In the last two matches, the goalkeeper has been playing behind a defence without a single centre-half, and while Jonny Howson and Neto Borges deserve considerable credit for the way in which they have stepped into the heart of the back four, Travers has still been called upon on a regular basis.
He helped Boro see off QPR at the Riverside last week, and was the Man of the Match at the weekend as the Teessiders kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Luton.
“It’s not been easy for him coming in when there's so much chopping and changing with the position and personnel in front of you,” admitted Carrick. “That's a challenge in itself.
“I think it’s 18 or 19 times throughout the season we’ve had to change the centre-back pairing. That's a lot. I’d think other teams in the league will probably do it like three or four times maybe, at a guess. That provides a challenge, especially for goalkeeper. And we’ve had four keepers as well.”
Travers’ confidence under the high ball was crucial at the weekend as Boro successfully contained a Luton side displaying the Hatters’ characteristic physical aggression and reliance on set-pieces.
“Mark made some big saves when we needed him, and he came for some crosses as well,” said Carrick, whose side return to action after the international break with a home game against Oxford United. “He had a really good presence in the box from set-plays and corners, and we needed that. It was a shared contribution, but he had to make saves for us which were important.”
