Leeds United were handed some breathing space in the Championship automatic promotion race following a third successive victory on Wednesday evening, and fans were left drooling over the performance from one individual.

That man was surprisingly in red colours as Ryan Shotton’s colossal display at the back for Middlesbrough has led to fans at Elland Road wanting the club to sign him.

Mateusz Klich’s powered effort on the stroke of half-time was the only goal to separate the two sides in the northeast with Marcelo Bielsa’s side completing a trio of 1-0 wins.

The Whites have moved five points clear of third-placed Fulham, although they still have some ground to make on West Brom at the top of the standings.

Here’s how the travelling support responded to Shotton’s performance…

The 31-year-old drew high acclaim from several supporters with praise ranging from “decent” to “immense” and even “class.”

One fan went as far as suggesting that the centre-back didn’t deserve to be on the losing side whilst another claimed he won everything at the back, even making up for his partner’s mistakes.

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Per SofaScore, Shotton managed six clearances, two tackles and won 75% of his ground duels, so some were certainly right to rave about him, especially as he helped restrict the Whites to the solitary goal.

It has led to calls for the club to sign him – a further member of the Elland Road faithful also said the defender was “class” before asking to buy him on their way up to the Premier League.

He was that good in the minds of some that he earned glowing comparisons to former greats in his role – one supporter said he played like Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos, maybe not a good thing given the Spaniard’s sending off on the very same night against Manchester City.

The 6 foot 3 veteran was also likened to Paolo Maldini.

It remains to be seen whether Victor Orta and co saw the performance in the same light as fans, but it has to be said, it’s rather unlikely the club move for the Boro centre-back anytime soon.

Are you a Championship expert? How much did each of these big-money signings cost?

And in other news, Ronaldo Vieira responds with just one word to Kalvin Phillips’ victory post on Instagram