Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says that his former club are likely to rely upon the creative skills of Stewart Downing in order to get them through in the Premier League campaign.
After being promoted back to the top division after more than five years in the Championship, Middlesbrough will want to retain themselves as one of the top 20 clubs in England at all costs. It was the reason behind bringing in Downing back to the Riverside stadium last season. It indeed proved to be a great decision as the England international was instrumental in getting the club back to the top division.
Even though they were expected to struggle upon their return, Middlesbrough have actually done rather well to pick up five points from their opening six games. It still puts them at an average of less than one point per game, which points to an end of season tally of less than 40 points. The latter is especially seen as a psychological barrier to avoid the drop.
Boro need to start winning games at a much higher pace, but Schwarzer is impressed by the start made by the club so far.
Boro have had just one win in the league and it was against archrivals Sunderland at the start of the campaign.
“I was a bit concerned at the beginning of the season just purely because I thought the players they (Boro) have brought in, there is not many of them with a lot of Premier League experience. And the players that came up with them as well, again the same thing.They will rely heavily on Stewie Downing to create a lot of things.He is a great player, but they have started the season really, really well. I was at the West Brom-Middlesbrough game,” said Schwarzer.