Boro made it two wins out of two in the Championship thanks to an eye-catching 3-0 victory at The Den.
The goals – scored by Hayden Hackney, Alfie Jones and Delano Burgzorg – all came in the second half, after Edwards had made a change at the interval.
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The head coach had made one change to his starting XI for the side, bringing Abdoulaye Kante in for Burgzorg. But the young midfielder was replaced at half-time by new recruit Sontje Hansen, who made an instant impact, playing a key role in the opening goal.
“I thought Alpha was really good. It was just, coming here as a 20-year-old, new country and everything, it’s a difficult place to come and play,” explained Edwards.
“With what we were doing and how we were playing in that moment, we probably invited a bit too much pressure on him.
“We just felt that if we moved Hayden there, it would give us a bit more control from deeper, whereas Sontje can provide us with quality moments and find some spaces with his pace and one-v-one ability to give us a bit more going forward.
“It was of those that paid off, which was nice.”
Edwards was thrilled with the win, which was the perfect response to Boro’s heavy Carabao Cup defeat to Doncaster in midweek.
He said: “I’m really pleased. We came here at the back end of last season and it was a very different game.
“We had to stand up to it today. Alex is a really good manager and he’s got some really good players. All the fans and the atmosphere this place generates, it’s a difficult place to come. I thought first 20 minutes we maybe played into their hands a little bit too much and invited a little too much pressure.
“We had a lot of the ball, but not in the right areas for me. But as it went on, we had some real moments from set-pieces and a penalty claim. We had some good control as well. But at half-time we adjusted one or two things and I thought it helped us look like a really good team.”
