Fry is good enough to learn from his mistakes

DAEL Fry’s costly clanger against Norwich City is likely to do the young defender more good than harm. For starters, he now knows that booting the ball into Row Z is the best option in a tight situation. Certainly we should not be surprised to see Fry make such a mistake. He’s still at the bottom end of a long learning curve.

And the experts reckon that centre-backs don’t reach maturity until they are in their late 20s.

Garry Monk should still be applauded for giving Fry a run in the side when he had more experienced options.

The 20-year-old Middlesbroughborn lad has gained terrific confidence from this spell which will only benefit his future career.

Boro have been well aware of Fry’s potential for a long time. He’s got all the attributes to be a top player.

In fact it would be great to think that he could follow in the footsteps of fellow Teessider Ben Gibson.

However nobody is guaranteed a first-team place, especially at a young age, so Fry must continue to work hard at improving every aspect of his game.

There is hot competition for centre-back places.

It took a long time for the £3m signing of Ryan Shotton to become a reality, but the former Birmingham City man is another who can comfortably do a job for Boro at this level.

Shotton is not just a centre-back. He has played at right-back and right-wing in the past, and also centre-forward, where his 6ft 3in height can be used to good effect.

However Ryan has been brought in primarily as a central defender, which in itself should be enough threat to keep Fry on his toes.