MIDDLESBROUGH defender Darragh Lenihan says Manchester City loanee Zack Steffen has been key to the transformation on Teesside this season.

Steffen has come under fire at times but head coach Michael Carrick has jumped to the keeper's defence at every opportunity and Lenihan has been hugely impressed by the American stopper.

Steffen conceded a soft goal against Stoke City on Tuesday night but recovered to make two superb late saves to secure Boro what could turn out to be a crucial point in the Championship promotion race.

"He's been excellent since he came to the club," said Lenihan of Steffen.

"He made some really good saves in the second half (against Stoke). Sometimes you have to rely on the goalkeeper to make those saves which thankfully he did. We'll need everyone in the squad chipping in from now until the end of the season to contribute and hopefully do well and win games."

The praise for Steffen comes in the week the Boro loanee received a huge boost when he was recalled into the USA squad. Steffen was surprisingly left out of the squad for the World Cup - an omission he described as "heartbreaking" - but he was yesterday named in interim coach Anthony Hudson's 24-man squad for the coming games against Grenada and El Salvador.

Steffen joins a growing number of Boro players who'll be away during the international break, with Anfernee Dijksteel, Marcus Forss, Riley McGree and Paddy McNair all set for action.

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While there's excitement on Teesside about Boro's promotion chances, Lenihan insists the dressing room is calm and paying no attention to the Championship table.

"It’s the mentality that we need to have to stay focused," he said.

"If you get hung up looking too far ahead you lose focus on the opposition that are directly coming up and in this league that’s dangerous.

“We just take it game by game. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ll just be focused on Preston on Saturday.

“It’s enjoyable being out there contesting and competing against teams who want to beat you. That’s credit to us because we’ve come a long way this season. There will be many challenges between now and the end of the season and it’s something that we need to up our game for."