How Adam Forshaw compares with Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton according to Opta stats

The ink on Adam Forshaw's Boro contract was still drying out when attention turned to how he would force his way into the starting XI.

The midfielder "fits the profile" of what Aitor Karanka is looking for in a new recruit but how he will he fit into the engine room?

Grant Leadbitter's name is engraved in the team-sheet, he won't be budged, and the fact Adam Clayton was judged to be the best of Aitor Karanka's signings by fans shows how much of an impact he's had in his first season at Boro.

Poor Dean Whitehead. The experienced midfield man has done all that's been asked of him and more when he's been handed an opportunity this season but he'll be aware of the fact that Leadbitter and Clayton are the first choice.

Clockwise from top-left: Adam Forshaw, Grant Leadbitter, Dean Whitehead and Adam Clayton

But having forked out £2.5m for his signature, Boro will see Forshaw as competition rather than cover.

And although, by Malky Mackay's own admission, it hasn't worked out for him at Wigan, the 23-year-old playmaker was one of the stand-out players in League One last season and will be looking to get his career back on track.

A play-maker? Does that mean he can play as the No.10 and provide competition for Lee Tomlin or whoever else plays in that role just off the striker?

Unlikely. Forshaw will almost certainly play his football for Boro as one of the two 'sitting' midfielders.

So how does he compare to Boro's dominant duo of Leadbitter and Clayton - the pair who've bossed midfield battles week in, week out this season?

Amidst the uncertainty of managerial changes and having not signed until mid-September Forshaw has only played 16 times in the league for the Latics this season.

But, in a struggling side, Forshaw has certainly demonstrated an ability to keep the ball. Indeed, his impressive passing accuracy rate of 85.6% is better than both Leadbitter's (82.8%) and Clayton's (84.2%).

That is, however, taking into account the number of games played. While Forshaw has made 658 passes this year Leadbitter's tally is 1,434.

And while Leadbitter and Clayton are both willing to take a risk with a forward pass, Forshaw is another who isn't simply a flavour-of-the-month midfield player who hogs the passing limelight by sitting deep and playing a simple five-yard ball to the nearest man.

His passing accuracy rate in the opposite half of 81.5%.

But is his style twinned with substance?

Action Images / Jason Cairnduff

Adam Forshaw in action for Wigan Athletic earlier this season

Grant Leadbitter has created a staggering 62 chances so far this year, more than double the 23 created by Adam Clayton and more than four times as many as Forshaw's 13 - although the new signing has played 10 games less than Boro's skipper.

But that's not to say Forshaw has a phobia of joining in with an attack. The eight goals he scored for Brentford last season was a respectable return for a midfielder and although his only goal this season has come from the spot, he has a 45.5% shooting accuracy rate.

Not bad at all when compared to Leadbitter's 53.8% and nobody needs reminding of the skipper's ability to let rip from distance.

That's in a side that have only mustered 26 goals so far this season - only Blackpool, Millwall and Charlton have scored less.

As the Latics scrap for points, Forshaw has had to roll his sleeves up with Wigan fighting for survival. And he isn't one to shy out of a challenge.

The Everton Academy graduate has won just over 56% of duels and 62.5% of aerial duels, slightly fewer than Clayton but more than Leadbitter.

That said, Karanka's first choice duo have both won more tackles this season and made more than 80 interceptions and blocks between them - vital as Boro more often than not come out on top in the middle of the park.

After putting pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal, Forshaw revealed how he was "up for the challenge of coming to Middlesbrough".

His first challenge is breaking into the team, although with a flurry of fixtures coming up Aitor Karanka will make the most of his squad depth and rotate when he feels fit.

He knows the challenge ahead.

"I can’t expect to go straight into the team and to be playing. The lads who are in there at the moment are doing really well," he says.

But if he fits in as well as the summer additions, Forshaw will be another excellent recruit as Boro look to nail down a spot in the top two.