Former Newcastle and Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas declared himself president of the 'Duffy & Dunk Fan Club' on Match Of The Day 2 on Sunday night.
Before Brighton took on West Ham on Friday Night Football last week, Jamie Carragher took time out to focus on Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk, Chris Hughton's centre-back pairing that the Liverpool legend believes can keep them up this season, and highlighted their fully committed defending which was giving their team chances to win games.
SEE ALSO: Watch: Jamie Carragher Had Some Love For Shane Duffy On Friday Night Football
This time, while the end result was the same in a pundit pointing out how well both defenders have been playing, Jenas wanted to focus on how much quality they had shown on the ball in their 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Ireland fans would have been scratching their heads watching at home, as while Duffy has unquestionably been our best defender over the World Cup campaign, and is up there with James McClean in the discussion for best player since Euro 2016, the one area he has faced criticism is in his use of the ball and tendency to knock it long with other options available, the Tbilisi performance being a recent example.
But Jenas highlighted moments the two 6'4" defenders could easily have played the ball long but instead opted to pick out a pass.
Big fan. They really have got everything, honestly. We're talking about big lads that are 6'4", we expect them to be the 'bullish' kind of centre-halves, they can do that, but they can also do these lovely little dinked passes to their wingers.
It's a big part of the way they play, thanks to the confidence Chris Hughton gives them. With all due respect, these are passes that 6'4" centre-halves are not supposed to be playing. They've got a real nice touch and feel for the ball and, defensive qualities, yes, but the quality on the ball is really impressive also.
Duffy & Dunk Fan Club, I'm there, yeah.
Sign us up.
It is fantastic to see Shane Duffy not only playing so well alongside Lewis Dunk, but now twice in the space of 10 days being publicly praised by former pros on some of the most watched football shows around.
What people seem to forget is how highly rated Shane Duffy was at Everton before that freak training-ground incident threatened his life. Since he has been able to get regular first-team football he has been able to show his potential and the timing couldn't have been better for Martin O'Neill and the Ireland squad, as Duffy will now be one of the first names on the teamsheet when fit.
While some Everton fans are rueing the fact that he was allowed to leave considering their inability to defend this season, he really has benefitted from the football he has played under Hughton, who himself is doing an absolutely tremendous job.
