Luke Ayling saw his first-ever game action this past weekend as Middlesbrough overcame Millwall 3-1. The right-back joined the Whites’ Championship opponents last week; his contract with Leeds United expires at the end of the current campaign.
Ayling, who is on loan at Boro until the end of the season, participated in the entire game as Michael Carrick’s team earned all three points to increase their prospects of finishing in the top six. Writing for our sister title Teesside Live, Craig Johns wrote: “A significant reason why Ayling was brought in was for his leadership and experience after Boro lost Tommy Smith and Darragh Lenihan to injury for the rest of the season. The potential value of it for Boro was immediately apparent, given his constant talking and supporting of teammates.
“He also applied his experience to grasp the game. In addition to neutralizing Bryan’s offensive danger, he demonstrated a wealth of skills with the ball, acting as a steadying force for Boro when in possession and giving their center backs a lot more comfort when attempting to play out from the back than Anfernee Dijksteel and Rav van den Berg did. He demonstrated his offensive prowess from full-back by overlapping at the appropriate moments.
“Maybe the greatest compliment you could give Ayling on the day is that this was the closest they’ve had since the veteran’s season-ending injury to a right-back performance akin to what Carrick always liked from [Tommy] Smith last season. Early indicators point to a
Ayling’s departure from Elland Road was reluctantly approved by United, despite their widely acknowledged lack of a full-back. After joining the Whites from Bristol City in 2016, the defender has become a terrace hero. He has made 268 appearances for the team.
Winger Dan James addressed the media following United’s victory at Cardiff, saying, “Luke is leaving, he’s obviously a massive character, he was absolutely brilliant for us over seven and a half seasons.” He’s a terrific friend of mine both on and off the field, so I was sad to see him go.
“I’m quite thrilled for him because I saw his outcome today—he won 3-1 and came right in. While there is undoubtedly one less character in the dressing room, there are still plenty of others, and I believe we showed
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