HAVING played for both clubs, one of the managers and alongside the other manager, when it comes to analysing Sunderland vs Middlesbrough this weekend, Stewart Downing is very well placed.

It's Boro who Downing is most strongly associated with, of course, having made more than 400 appearances for his hometown club over two spells, playing in a UEFA Cup final in his first and helping them to promotion in his second. He's back at Boro now, starting out on his coaching journey.

But it was at the very start of his playing career, 20 years ago, that Downing headed up the A19 for a short but extremely important loan spell, a stint that would act as a springboard from which the Teessider went on to enjoy a glittering career for club and country.

Mick McCarthy was the Sunderland boss at the time and Downing will forever be grateful to the Yorkshireman for the opportunity to truly kick-start his career. Downing only played seven times during his short spell on Wearside but scored three goals and only tasted defeat once. He was 19 at the time and alerted his parent club that he was very much first team ready.

"That move was an eye-opener for me," Downing tells the Northern Echo.

"I'd gone from playing reserves for Boro at Billingham in front of next to nobody and then bang, I was playing at the Stadium of Light, 30,000, the Championship. But once I got a sniff of it, I didn't want to go back to the reserves.

"Mick was dead intense, he's a character, doesn't suffer fools, but he just let me play. He knew I was a bit raw, would make mistakes along the way, but he just said to me, 'you just do what you do for Middlesbrough reserves, get at defenders, that's why I've brought you here'. I loved him, he was great.

"There were loads of other clubs who wanted me at the time but I knew I had to choose the right team. I just thought Sunderland was perfect, they had good players, a good team, Mick had them playing some good stuff. It worked out perfectly. Mick just let me play. It was amazing."

Downing returned to Boro and the rest, as they say, is history, though it wasn't until the following season that he truly established himself after an injury to Gaizka Mendieta forced Steve McClaren to move Bolo Zenden inside. Downing was unleashed and it wasn't long before he turned the heads of the national team bosses.

It was playing for England that Downing would get to know now-Boro head coach Michael Carrick.

"I wouldn't have necessarily said he'd go on to be a manager," says Downing of Carrick.

"I got on well with him in the England squads. He was very quiet, kept himself to himself, but with people like that they're often watching a lot, listening, taking it all in. Some people are very vocal but he's always just gone quietly about his business.

"I think that's been the thing with Michael at Boro, he's just come in and calmed everybody down. And the players have clearly taken it on board.

"I think the big thing is they can't believe how humble he is. He's been at Manchester United, won it all, but Michael played like that - calm, composed. That's his personality, and I think it's helped everyone. The players will have quickly realised they can relax around him.

"Having played with Michael, I know what he's like. He's quiet, laid back. When you encourage players like he does, they get confidence. He's giving them new energy."

Downing knows what Tony Mowbray is like as well having played for the now Sunderland chief when he was in charge at Blackburn.

The Northern Echo:

"Mogga is good, he was great with me," says the 38-year-old, who spent the final two seasons of his career at Rovers playing for Mowbray.

"I was an older player, he was more intense on the young players. He can be intense at times but that's the way he is, he's a leader, he drives people on. He does that with players.

"His ideas were great. I came out of a Middlesbrough team that was very defensive. He gave me a new lease of life, he said to me he didn't want me defending, he wanted me attacking. I really enjoyed playing for him. He wanted me to get on the ball, take risks, enjoy it. I had a great time with him. It's the type of football I want to play - front foot, aggressive and entertaining.

"He likes to develop young players and he's not afraid to play them, as we're seeing at Sunderland this season.

"He'll want to build a team there but won't stand still and settle for mid-table. He'll be excited about what they can achieve and will want to make the play-offs."

That's very much the aim for Boro now, who climbed to fourth thanks to last week's win over Millwall, their seventh in their last eight games.

Downing says: "With Boro, I did the first game of the season for Sky and the first half I thought, 'wow', they battered West Brom, and I thought Boro are going to be good this season. Then I watched the second half when West Brom came back into it and I thought there's a bit of frailty there, I think they'll concede goals. So I came away from it thinking I don't really know what to expect.

"As it went on, it got stodgy, you hear the rumblings and you could see what was coming.

"It was just flat the last few games. Even at the training ground, I was there coaching, and it felt flat. But Michael, you have to say, has been unbelievable. He's given it a lift.

"They're attacking, on the front foot, they get after teams, that's generally how players want to play. I've spoken to a few players when I've been around the building and asked how it is and they say it's great.

"The players might not have known what to expect from Michael, he's coming from Manchester United, had an amazing career, what will he be like? But they'll have very quickly realised that he's very humble."

Downing, of course, knows what it's like to be a local lad breaking into the Boro team and has taken great pleasure in watching Hayden Hackney's emergence under Carrick.

He says: "When you're a young player and sense a first team chance, it gives you a big boost. I remember when Steve McClaren came in at Boro, he said if you play well you'll be in the first team, not just to me to everyone. He said he wasn't bothered about age, if you impress, you'll get a chance. And everyone thought, this is it, this is our opportunity. Michael has been the same.

"Hayden will know the manager thinks highly of him. He has the perfect man to learn from. He's playing with no fear, adrenaline. There'll come a time when he might have to come out of the team, he's inexperienced, he might have a dip, the Championship is relentless, but he has a great mentor to learn from."

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Sunday's game may well be decided down Sunderland's right flank and Boro's left. For the hosts, brilliant Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo will look to pin Ryan Giles back. If and when Giles gets forward, the delivery of the Wolves loanee, who is joint-top of the Championship assist chart this season, will ask serious questions of the home defence. Mowbray knows Giles well having signed the left wing-back at Blackburn last term.

"I liked him at Blackburn but he didn't play a lot," says Downing of Giles.

"I thought he'd be perfect for Mogga but he didn't get a run for whatever reason.

"At Boro, I think the system has been perfect for him. He's got an engine, he can get up and down. Most of Boro's ammunition is now coming from him. I think he's been great and wouldn't be surprised if Boro were trying to sign him permanently."