MIDDLESBROUGH goalkeeper Darren Randolph marked a place in the Championship team of the year by describing how he had to keep his concentration to earn another clean sheet for his country.

The Ireland goalkeeper, who has helped Boro to boast the best defensive record in the second tier this season, had to deal with a tennis ball protest during the 1-0 victory over Georgia on Tuesday night.

A little after half-an-hour at the Aviva Stadium, frustrated Ireland fans threw dozens of tennis balls on to the pitch to protest against Football Association of Ireland’s John Delaney.

Play was held up for three minutes while Ireland waited to take a free-kick deep in the Georgian half as Randolph and stewards cleared them to show their frustration at Delaney moving sideways into a new role.

Delaney is due to appear before lawmakers on April 10 to explain a 100,000 euro ($113,000) personal loan, provided to the FAI two years ago to help his employer.

But Randolph, impressive throughout the campaign at Middlesbrough, kept his concentration levels high to keep the Georgians at bay.

He said: “I was looking around for help at the start! I thought I better start kicking some off straight away because it wasted a bit of time. Thankfully I got a bit of help and they were gone!”

Ireland won because of Conor Hourihane’s winner from the free-kick after Randolph and Co had cleared the balls off the pitch. He said: “It was a brilliant free-kick. Obviously the tennis ball saga worked in his favour there.

“I’m delighted. I knew there was a couple right behind me when I turned round. I heard that might happen at some point. I was prepared.”

Randolph’s focus has been fantastic all year and that is highlighted by the way he was named in the Sky Bet Championship Football Manager Team of the Season.

That is voted for by the 24 Championship managers and it will officially be announced at the 2019 EFL Awards on Sunday, April 7 at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London.

After Hourihane’s winner, Randolph had also made a stunning stop like he has so often this season in club colours just before the break to ensure Mick McCarthy’s first home game back in charge of the Irish ended in three points.

“It’s all about getting yourself in the right position,” said Randolph. “I was trying to just cover my goal and hope it would hit off me and it did which allowed me to make the save.”

Randolph will return to Rockliffe Park on Thursday morning to build up towards Saturday’s visit of Norwich City, when Middlesbrough know a defeat could see them fall out of the play-off places.

The Teessiders have lost three on the bounce ahead of the visit of the leaders and the 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa before the international break increased concerns and frustrations among supporters.

Jonny Howson, who won promotion at Middlesbrough’s expense with Norwich at Wembley in 2015, knows his current employers are leading a pack of six clubs separated by just three points, so the Norwich test has huge significance.

“They are all big games now on this run in when you are playing for something, whether the opposition is playing for something or not,” he said. “It tends to tighten up at the top but all we can do now is concentrate on ourselves, not what is behind us or what is in front of us.

“That means it is about us rather than Norwich. We needed the break, to re-group, to get back together and go again, as it is still in our hands in terms of the play-offs. But we need to turn this around very quickly.”