Davies impressed with Romero’s first campaign

Ben Davies has praised Cristian Romero for his contributions to the team during a highly impressive debut season in our colours.

Signed last summer from Atalanta, ‘Cuti’ produced some solid displays in the heart of our defence during 2021/22, linking up with Ben and Eric Dier in a back three for much of the second half of the campaign.

Having himself put in some excellent defensive shifts during that time to aid our return to the Champions League fray – and since carried on his good form to help Wales qualify for their first World Cup since 1958 – Ben spoke highly of the Argentina international’s endeavours with us so far.

“He’s been very good – I remember the first game I played with him was in a back three at Pacos de Ferreira away, it wasn’t a great game for the team to be honest, but I think he’s been very good for us since he arrived,” said Ben, who has now completed eight seasons with us and is up to 270 appearances in a Lilywhite shirt.

“He’s good on the ball, strong at tackling and I think as a unit with all of our defenders, we’ve been good and we really clicked going into the final parts of the season.

“I include everyone in that – Davinson Sanchez and Joe Rodon are great professionals, they work hard every single day and they came in and played some minutes too, as well as the likes of Cristian and Eric Dier. Japhet Tanganga also played his part before his injury.

“In the last couple of months we went on a good run and didn’t concede too many goals. I think we had a couple of late goals that were very disappointing – Brighton, Leicester – and if not for them, our record might look even better. But I think we’ve all adapted throughout the season and done really well together.”