MIDDLESBROUGH U21 BOSS REFLECTS ON A POSITIVE SEASON WITH PLAY-OFF SUCCESS AND FIRST-TEAM CHANCES

Middlesbrough under-21s boss Mark Tinkler is delighted with a really positive season for Boro's academy - with the second string achieving a play-off finish and many individuals gaining valuable first-team experience.

Michael Carrick has been keen to make use of Boro's academy since arriving at the club last season and having handed three debuts then, a further four academy players have made senior debuts for the club this season. With Boro suffering terribly with injuries, many more have benefited from opportunities to train with the first-team and often travel to away games too.

The clear pathway coincides with strong performances and results for Boro's second string under Tinkler this term. In a revamped Premier League 2 season, Boro's youngsters have won nine of their 19 games to currently sit seventh in the table - guaranteeing themselves a top-16 finish and therefore a play-off spot.

With one regular-season game remaining at home to Crystal Palace next Friday night (a game that will be played at the Riverside), Boro will be hoping to secure a top-eight finish which guarantees them a home draw in the single-game elimination play-off quarter-final.

However, with Boro's first-team dealing with more injuries and facing three final games with little more than pride to play for, Tinkler won't be complaining if his options are depleted due to more first-team opportunities.

Tinkler told club media: “Obviously you want to win games because if you’re winning games then your confidence grows. But ultimately for us as academy coaches it’s about getting players in the first team. We’ve been fortunate this season to have many young lads make the bench and a couple even get some game time with the first team as well.

"It’s great for the academy. We’ve had players go out on loan, making debuts in the Football League and the National League too. It’s always a positive and something we aim to do throughout any season. For the lads that stay here though, they want to win games and perform well.

"Getting players into the first team to the academy has been what this club has been all about for at least the last 20 years now. I’ve been at the club now nearly 16 years and there are a lot of players who have come through and made first-team debuts in that time.

"And if not at Middlesbrough, many have gone elsewhere to have fantastic careers too. As an academy, we’re really proud of that. But we’re also focused on developing them as people and teaching them the core values of the club. Whether you become a player or not, we still want you to leave with good values as a person, which I believe can take you a long way in life.”

The under-21s secured their play-off place with a victory at Sunderland's Stadium of Light earlier in the week. Sonny Finch and George Gitau goals secured the three points, with Tinkler admitting it's always particularly nice to beat your rivals.

Reflecting on the campaign as a whole, he continued: “It’s great to secure a play-off place. It gives us an extra game and we want to play as many games as we can to give the lads as many opportunities for in-game experience. It keeps our season going. We all want to do well and we’ve had some really good performances this season and some positive individual displays.”

Whether we see any more minutes for academy graduates in the first team this season remains to be seen. But in a season that saw previously second-division Boro placed alongside all the top division clubs as part of the new one-division, Swiss-style model, to do as well as they have while providing that pathway to the first team ought to be considered a very positive season indeed.

2024-04-19T05:14:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd