Middlesbrough skipper Matthew Bates has urged the club's fans to give new signing Lukas Jutkiewicz time to prove himself.
Jutkiewicz, a transfer-window signing from Coventry, could make his full debut for the club in Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round trip to Sunderland.
Bates told the Evening Gazette: "Lukas is still very young - he's only 22 and people sometimes forget that because they see the build of the guy. He could be a real monster by the time he's finished.
"But let's not build up the pressure on him, let him find his feet and I'm sure he will be a great signing for us. If we sling the ball into the box, he's more than likely going to get his head on it.
"We will see that on Sunday if he's involved, which I'm sure he will be. It will be a good game for him to start his first one against Sunderland in the FA Cup, and let's hope he can score some goals for us."
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I am sorry I don't buy this, 'give Lukas time, he is only 22 y.o.' He cost Boro £1.5m or so and he was bought to make a difference and an impact. He is a professional footballer earning presumably many thousands of pounds a week and he needs to immediately start scoring. Look at Nimely, wasn't given a decent run in the Boro team and got quite a bit of stick from the 'fans'. He goes to Coventry and scores one and makes two in his first game which of course had to be against Boro. He certainly made an impact and he is only 20 in a team that is bottom of the league. In my opinion, we didn't give Nimely a decent run, and he is a Manchester City player so can't be that bad as was proved on Saturday.
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