Pulis: Mikel is fantastic

By Akeem Lawal

MIDDLESBROUGH boss, Tony Pulis has described new signing, Mikel Obi as a fantastic player after the Nigeria International helped his side record a 3-2 victory away to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns last weekend.

Mikel, who arrived at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium last month on a free transfer after being released by Tianjin Teda, made his debut in the fourth round of the FA Cup during a 1-1 draw with Newport County last month. 

Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports that the replay of that FA Cup tie will take place on Tuesday at Rodney Parade. 

Despite being at the club for less than a fortnight, Pulis has been happy with what he has seen so far from the Super Eagles captain.

“He’s fantastic; he got tired at the end, he looked a little bit tired at the end.

“He’s a great lad, the lads have taken to him. He is a good character in the dressing room and he’s got the quality that you need.”

The 31 year-old made his league debut for Boro on Saturday, starting in midfield alongside Muhamed Besic and George Saville.

He won four tackles against the Baggies, the joint-most of any player in the match alongside Saville. His pass accuracy of 72% was only bettered by Saville, out of visiting players that started the tie.

The Premier League winner had the third-most touches out of his teammates (42) only Ryan Shotton (61) and George Friend (45) touched the ball more often.

In total, WhoScored.com gave Mikel a match rating of only 6.38 out of 10, before he was replaced by on-loan Huddersfield Town winger Rajiv van la Parra in the 75th minute.