Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate recalls Paddy McNair conversation after Barnsley and Leeds United omissions

McNair was one of Boro’s best performers in the first half of the season when he was deployed in the middle of the park, but had to drop back into defence due to injuries.

The 24-year-old returned to midfield in January but struggled to rediscover his best form, meaning he started on the bench against Barnsley and Leeds last month.

Yet McNair looked back to his best during a 1-0 win over Charlton on Saturday, scoring the winner to end Boro’s 12-match winless run.

“I thought Paddy was very good,” said Woodgate when asked about McNair’s performance.

“He played very well at centre-back, and then the next three games in midfield I had a discussion and he agreed with me - that wasn’t Paddy McNair.

“But I thought today he ran the midfield along with Adam Clayton.”

Woodgate also pointed out that there are different requirements when playing in defence and midfield – not least the ground a player has to cover.

“Maybe when he went back into centre-half it took him a bit of time to get over that because at centre-half you don’t cover as much ground as you do in midfield,” added the Boro boss.

“I’m expecting my midfielders to do over 1,000 metres high intensity and as defenders you get 400 metres.

“He had four or five games at centre-half and he’s doing 500 metre high intensity and then he’s got to go into midfield and do 1000 metres at high intensity and 300 metre sprint distances. It’s different but I thought today he was very good.”

Woodgate also praised McNair’s attitude after the player was left out of the side.

“I spoke to him when I left him out of the team and he responded,” said the Boro boss.

“That’s what I want from my players when I leave them out of the team, if you look at a couple of weeks ago when I left Rudy (Gestede) out of the squad, totally out of the squad, he came back and put in a good performance.”