Middlesbrough picked up Sam Morsy from troubled Wigan Athletic in the summer transfer window, with the Teessiders signing the midfielder ahead of 2020/21. 

The 29-year-old had been with Wigan since January 2016 and had made over 150 league appearances for the Latics in that time.

However, relegation and administration had opened the door for his exit, and the Riverside Stadium was his destination.

In this The Hat-Trick feature, we take a look at Morsy at Boro...

How's it gone so far?

After missing the opening weekend defeat to Watford, Morsy has made nine appearances in all competitions.

He played in the League Cup defeat to Barnsley, then stepped off the bench against Bournemouth and QPR as Boro picked up two draws.

On the back of that, he's started six consecutive fixtures and played 90 minutes on five occasions, with Boro unbeaten with him in the side in the Championship.

The 29-year-old laid on a perfect assist for Britt Assombalonga in the win over Coventry City, but was hooked after only 34 minutes in Saturday's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

What issues does he face?

It was explained by Neil Warnock that Morsy was substituted due to his early yellow card. The midfielder was walking a tightrope against Forest and his manager didn't want to go down to 10 men.

That's understandable and with Boro going on to beat Forest, it proved to be the right call from Warnock.

The issue for Morsy now is that Boro have recorded such an impressive win to extend their unbeaten run.

Will he be able to claw his way back into the side for the midweek meeting with Blackburn? Can he continue to be the heartbeat of Warnock's midfield?

Morsy is an impressive personality and hasn't let Warnock down much, so you'd expect yes. However, it's a little bit of a headache right now.

What's next?

In terms of performance, it's probably more of the same from Morsy.

Knowing Warnock, he won't encourage him to avoid yellow cards and incidents like Saturday might well happen again.

Morsy's role is a selfless one and if the team are doing well then Warnock isn't going to be bothered about a couple of cautions.

Boro are into the top-six now and unbeaten in eight league fixtures. Morsy has been hugely important to that and, simply, more of the same is all it will take to keep fans and the manager happy.