MIDDLESBROUGH interim boss Leo Percovich revealed that work on the training ground coupled with a tactical switch inspired him to hand Hayden Hackney his first league start for the club.

The 20-year-old midfielder was part of the Boro side that beat Birmingham City 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium to climb out of the relegation zone. Keeping Riley McGree and Alex Mowatt on the bench, Hackney produced a positive performance from midfield.

A loanee with Scunthorpe United last season, he has been a regular for the under-21’s over the years whilst making four appearances for the first-team but his appearance against the Blues was his first league start.

The decision to throw Hackney straight into the starting line-up surprised many and Percovich was asked about a bold choice that paid off after the game. “Thank you” he joked to the media.

But the Uruguyuan had faith that Hackney would not disappoint. He continued: “How much courage do you need to bring? Hayden Hackney tonight, under this pressure? Bottom three and Hayden Hackney started in the Championship.

“How much you trust him? I trusted him but I trusted the other ten players who supported him to be good tonight. He wasn’t alone. All of the others play for him ad supported him over the last 36 hours.

“Don’t forget, Hayden Hackney is from Middlesbrough. He is from the academy. He is one of us. Imagine for him the dream to play tonight, in this stadium at the Riverside in front of this crowd. A dream for the boy.

“It’s a message for the people of this city. Anyone can be there and we are representing them. Hayden represented the kids dreams and I represented the fans on the pitch.”

Percovich has been overseeing training at Rockliffe since Monday after Chris Wilder’s sacking alongside Craig Liddle, Mark Tinkler and Lee Cattermole with the quartet in the Boro dugout for their Wednesday night win.

It was there where he caught the eye. Percovich added: “The choice was because we saw him and training and he deserved it. He was very positive with the ball. I thought we needed a little bit more vertical and quicker passes to connect with the strikers that we haven’t done before.

“He tried to do this tonight. You saw when he got the ball he was ready to change the pace and look forward to try and connect with the strikers so that was a good connection that I saw in the beginning.

“Don’t forget, that was a very emotional game for him too so he ran out of gas after 45 minutes. I thought to change it five or six minutes into the second half but I gave him a bit extra to make him feel exhausted and then he deserved to go off.”