MARTEN de Roon has adapted to life in England and Middlesbrough’s struggles at the wrong end of the Premier League table have not altered his viewpoint.

The Dutch midfielder admits it would have been a surprise had Boro not been involved in a fight against relegation this season.

Despite his reservations he was keen to make the move to the Riverside Stadium last summer and completed a £12m transfer from Atalanta.

The Dutch international has since started 26 games in the top-flight for Boro; only Victor Valdes, Alvaro Negredo and Ben Gibson have started more.

After losing his place for the weekend draw with Burnley, de Roon hopes to be back to help Boro improve on their perilous position in the relegation zone.

Steve Agnew’s side are six points shy of safety going into the final seven matches and have a game in hand over fourth from bottom. The odds of succeeding are still stacked against them, with dates against Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool among those to come.

De Roon said: “Of course, I think every team that goes up will face difficulties because the Championship is a different league to the Premier League. If you see how many good teams there are in the Premier League it's normal, and you can see it in the teams who go up tend to struggle.

“Chelsea and other teams have big players, big names, and will fight for the title. Other clubs have to play for relegation. I knew that coming in but I was always confident when I saw the team that we could stay up.”

Staying up is not completely out of the question, although it is hard to imagine them achieving that goal if they lose to Arsenal on Monday and other results don’t go their way.

There will be hopes that Boro can record victories over Bournemouth, Sunderland and Southampton … even then though the likelihood is they will need to beat one of the big boys at least too.

The troubles which the first season back in the Premier League have brought have not put de Roon off life in the North-East, though.

There has been a change of manager and a severe dip in form – extending to 14 winless games in the league – but the 26-year-old has settled into life in England.

He said: “For football players it's sometimes a bit more difficult to make friends in the area, but my missus has a few friends, my eldest daughter goes to school, my youngest daughter is growing up - now running instead of crawling.

“The area is perfect, it's quiet but nice and there are good schools, nice streets. We've been down to London where we haven't been before to visit, and we enjoy it here. The people are nice and satisfied, and we're happy.”

Agnew is keeping an eye on the fitness of full-back George Friend in the hope he will be ready to return to action against Arsenal on Monday. There are hopes the left-back will come through training this week unscathed, while Gaston Ramirez should also be available.

Agnew has collected two points from 12 available since taking over from Aitor Karanka.