Neil Warnock has explained the reasoning behind letting Aynsley Pears leave Middlesbrough and join Blackburn Rovers.

Pears was a regular under Jonathan Woodgate last term after making his first-team debut in the early stages of the season.

The 22-year-old fell out of favour at the Riverside under Warnock, though, with Marcus Bettinelli arriving on loan from Fulham this summer and since establishing himself as Boro's number-one.

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With Dejan Stojanovic and Sol Brynn also on the books at the Riverside, the club decided to let Pears join Blackburn on a permanent deal, with his contract on Teesside set to expire at the end of the season.

Speaking after his side's goalless draw against Reading at the weekend, Warnock explained his decision to let Pears leave the club and join Blackburn on a permanent deal.

Via the Hartlepool Mail, Warnock said: "I think he needed to go (to play) he’s done my head in the last few weeks.

"His agent, his family and everybody else they’ve all got an opinion so let’s see if he can be a number one at Blackburn.

"He’s a good lad, he’s not a bad lad but he just needed a change and I wasn’t prepared to keep him.

“We have a good young lad as well who will come in as number three so I just thought he needed it, he’s been here too long. You can get like that, you need a new challenge.”

Boro currently sit 14th in the Sky Bet Championship table, after picking up six points from their first five games.

The Verdict

You can't blame Pears for wanting a move away.

He's 22 years of age and needs to be playing football week in, week out, especially after racking up a lot of appearances for Boro last term.

He only had one year left on his contract, too, so it makes sense for the club to cash in and receive a fee rather than potentially let him leave for nothing next summer.

He will now be looking to get regular game time at Ewood Park, but Thomas Kaminski is a top goalkeeper who will be hard to budge.