Middlesbrough goalkeeper Connor Ripley's loan spell at Burton Albion was terminated by mutual consent this week and he returned to the Riverside Stadium. 

He only made five appearances during his time under Nigel Clough at the Pirelli Stadium and was playing second fiddle to Stephen Bywater more often than not.

The loan spell came as a surprise to me at the time as I feel he is good enough to compete for the number 1 shirt at Boro and it was even more surprising seeing as he was clearly not guaranteed first team football.

Darren Randolph was brought in during a summer of heavy investment under Garry Monk, to bring Premier League and international experience to a defence that was watertight during the 2015-16 promotion season and was even stingy during relegation from the top flight last season.

However, it hasn't worked out like that. Randolph and the Boro defence grossly underperformed under Monk, necessitating the back to basics approach of Tony Pulis to push the club towards promotion.

Randolph has made individual errors - most notably at home to Derby when he sliced the ball to Matej Vydra and allowed him to tap home - and his nervousness has spread throughout a back four of defenders who should be more than comfortable at this level.

Some managers prefer to let a goalkeeper play through a poor spell of form but the threat of being dropped and competition for places needs to be there for that to be a success.

Ripley is good enough to put serious pressure on Randolph and if he impresses in training, he should be given the nod to see if he can bring a greater assurance to the Boro backline.

Randolph could cost Boro more points as the season goes on. It is vital that Pulis knows he has a quality alternative and Ripley is that man.

Boro fans - do you want to see Ripley in the first team? Let us know in the comments below...