GEORGE Edmundson wants to earn a permanent deal at Middlesbrough.

The Ipswich loanee has only been a Boro player for a few weeks having joined on loan from Ipswich on deadline day but felt instantly settled and happy in the Riverside dressing room.

The 27-year-old is in the final year of his contract at Portman Road and is due to become a free agent in the summer, so is treating his season-long loan at Boro as a chance to impress and extend his stay on Teesside.

Edmundson enjoyed a confident and impressive debut in the home draw with Preston at the weekend and is now hoping to keep his place in the side for Saturday's Wear-Tees derby at the Stadium of Light.

Edmundson's immediate focus is on the games and challenges ahead but his uncertain future is in the back of his mind and he is desperate to catch the eye and take his chance at Boro.

"I am out of contract next year so I am playing for my next deal, no one wants to be a free agent," he said.

"I need to perform, play well and hopefully achieve something here and who knows, you want to play at the biggest and the best clubs. But all I can do is perform, forget about that and what comes will come."

RECOMMENDED READING:

For Boro, it's a similar situation to the one they found themselves in with Luke Ayling in January. The right-back joined on loan ahead of his Leeds contract expiring in the summer and after quickly establishing himself as a key figure, Boro pounced and made the deal permanent.

It's still very early days for Edmundson and Boro will consider their options as the season progresses.

"George was a player we'd been looking at throughout the window," said head of football Kieran Scott on the Northern Echo's You Are My Boro YouTube channel last week.

"He's a player I've known a long time and we've all known about a long time. Michael has a really good relationship with Kieran (McKenna) at Ipswich and they've spoken about the need for George to play.

"There was ongoing dialogue and we were monitoring the situation with our centre-backs.

"With George only having a year left on his deal, it gives us, a bit like the Luke Ayling situation - don't get me wrong, Ipswich still have a say in this, but there's a scenario we could benefit from if he does really well and settles into the group.

"January he'll have six months left, next summer he'll be out of contract - so let's see how George does and we'll take it from there."

Edmundson is now relishing Saturday's trip up the A19.

He said: "Everybody knows it’s a big derby and we are going to turn up in our numbers.

"As players we just need to turn up on the pitch and give the travelling fans something to be happy about, which is three points to go home with.

"Different games require different players, we all have different attributes and some games might suit me, some might suit somebody else.

"If you get picked great but for the ones who don’t, they are still involved in the squad and I want the lads to do well if I don’t get picked, and vice versa. I'll always want players in my position to perform, you just want that competitiveness which just makes everybody better."