Hayden Coulson situation explained as Neil Warnock delivers verdict on Marc Bola after Barnsley win

The 23-year-old broke into the senior side last season and impressed under Jonathan Woodgate in the left wing-back role.

Yet Coulson has started just one league game since Warnock’s appointment and came on with just three minutes remaining during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Barnsley.

Marvin Johnson has been Boro’s first-choice option on the left this season but was dropped against the Tykes, along with fellow wing-back Djed Spence.

Some may have felt Coulson was an obvious replacement, yet Warnock opted to go with Marc Bola on the flank.

When asked about Coulson by the Mail after the match, Warnock replied: “To be fair Marvin Johnson has been the number one there.

“I tried Hayden further on today. He’s been so good in training, I did think at one stage, when Patrick Roberts didn’t arrive, about playing him in the hole but when he told me he’d never played there in his life, I thought it might not be the time to gamble.”

Warnock was impressed by Bola’s performance against Barnsley and admitted he needed to build the defender back up after a difficult start to his Boro career.

The 22-year-old initially struggled after ajoining the Teessiders last summer and was loaned back out to former club Blackpool in January.

When asked if the Barnsley game was Bola’s best performance for Boro, Warnock replied: “It is by a mile, I’ve had to give him a few cuddles, a little bit like (Anfernee) Dijksteel, I don’t think they were wanted at the time but both of them have a part to play.

“It’s nice to see Bola having a game, he didn’t do so well and I think the fans probably treated him in a different way, whereas I’ve really had to build him back up.

“He’s part of the squad and the last two weeks in training he’s been super.

“I didn’t think our two wing-backs were very good last week and the week before so I thought why not, we’ve got nothing to lose. It might give them two a kick up the backside.”

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