MARTEN DE ROON thinks it has been made easy to settle into life in the ‘most difficult’ league in the world by the people he has around him at Middlesbrough.

De Roon has built a reputation for himself as something of a midfield destroyer, having previously been labelled the ‘Bulldog’ from his time at Atalanta.

The 25-year-old was also a key man for Heerenveen under Marco van Basten before his move to Italy in the summer of last year.

Now he is looking to make his mark on the Premier League after his season in Serie A which saw him make more tackles (122) than any other player.

But after his first full game for Middlesbrough since his £12m switch he knows having the same impact will be harder, although he will be doing everything he can to achieve his goal.

“Playing in Holland and in Italy is so different to England,” said de Roon, who played 90 minutes in the defeat to Everton on Saturday.

“In this league, the Premier League, there is so much high intensity, that is a big focus, and it is non-stop running and attacking, defending, for the full game, every minute. It is more exciting but it is also the most difficult league.

“I was happy I played my first 90 minutes after a false start against Stoke with my hamstring injury. I am feeling good and confident. The club, the coach, the team is like a warm family. You can see that on the field and the spirit is great here.”

De Roon was unfortunate when he was forced out of the opening weekend draw with Stoke City because of injury at the Riverside.

That forced him out of action for almost a month before he returned to action as a substitute during the defeat to Crystal Palace on September 13; he was then recalled to the starting line-up at Everton.

The Toffees claimed the points courtesy of a strong 20 minute spell before half-time when they struck three goals to overturn Middlesbrough’s one goal lead scored in the 21st minute.

But Boro, who have only won one of their opening six fixtures despite collecting five points, know they need to come up with a way of being more solid in the Premier League or risk slipping further down from their mid-table position.

De Roon, knowing Tottenham are up next at the Riverside this Saturday, said: “We played really well, started really well and can be proud so far of the spirit of the team.

“I was at Sunderland and I watched it live, we played well. We can win games and lose games. We want to play well and with our mentality I am sure we will win games. Everton showed we can also lose games.

“It will be hard again against Tottenham but we will have the fans behind us and we can make it difficult for Tottenham if we push hard on them. We can score goals and we will look to prove that.”

Karanka, keeping an eye on the fitness of Adam Clayton this week, is looking at ways of tightening things up and will be looking for de Roon and his defensive midfielders to provide greater protection to a back four still finding its way in the top-flight.

Middlesbrough are expecting another sell-out when Tottenham because ticket sales are already close to reaching the 32,000 mark.