That was the view of Paul Jenkins following the debut of the centre half in the U23 game against Brighton on Monday night.





The summer signing is working his way back from a cruciate ligament injury suffered in January and the 45 minutes he played at the Riverside was his first since surgery.





"It was my first viewing of Bernardo," says the Lead Coach of the U23s.





"The approach in the dressing room from both players (he replaced Dani Ayala at half-time) was first class. Very professional.





"On the pitch it was one of the best central defending 45 minutes I've seen in a long time. The way he headed the ball, the way he attacked the ball, his leading of the line and positional play were outstanding. I take my hat off to him."





What was clear from the start Espinosa's vocal contribution.





"He was a quiet as a mouse in on the bench," says Jenkins. "But when he went on he understood everything we wanted and I am 100 per cent convinced the Boro fans are going to love this fella."





Espinosa played the second half of a game that had seen Ayala play the opening 45 as he continued his return from an injury picked up early in the summer.





He will be assessed this week, but Jenkins reported that he seemed to come through the game ok.





The game ended goalless, with Jenkins commenting: "It was nice to be back at the Riverside. The surface was in top nick, absolutely fantastic.





"Both teams tried to play the game the right way, both will be disappointed not to have won, but all in all it was a point well deserved."



