MATT Crooks knows exactly what January recruit Dan Barlaser will bring to Middlesbrough having played with the midfielder at Rotherham, and is helping his former teammate settle in and feel at home on Teesside.

The pair know each other well from their time together at the Millers and Crooks says Boro have signed a "very good player" in Barlaser.

The 26-year-old was Boro's top midfield target in January and completed his switch late in the window. Having trained with his new teammates this week, he's expected to be available for Saturday's visit of Blackpool.

Barlaser's first challenge is forcing his way into the team, with Jonny Howson and Hayden Hackney having excelled in midfield. But when Barlaser gets his chance, he'll show what he's capable of and why Boro were so keen to bring him in, says Crooks.

"Dan is a great lad, and a really good player as well, so he’ll fit in seamlessly with all the lads," says the midfielder turned striker.

"I’m sure when he gets his time on the pitch, he’ll show what he can do.

“He’s a very good player. He’s very technical and he’s got a great range of passing. He can take a brilliant set piece as well. He’s just a very good player with a real eye for a pass. So I’m sure he’ll help us trying to move in the right direction.”

When Crooks joined Boro, Lewis Wing - who had spent some time on loan at Rotherham - helped him settle in, though he did have some making up to do having been involved in a mini-spat following a red card against Neil Warnock's side when he played for the Millers!

Having a familiar face in the dressing room is a help when you move clubs, says Crooks, and he's happy to be able to help Barlaser acclimatise to life on Teesside.

He says: “It always makes it easier when you have someone you know in the dressing room, so I’m happy to help Dan settle.

"I know when I first came it was Wingy for me and it does make it easier, especially on that first day, to just settle in. Of course, I had the squabble with a few of the lads the last time I played against Boro before joining, so I had a bit of apologising to do on my first day. Even the gaffer at the time Neil Warnock, I was screaming at him at half-time!  But yeah, having Wingy there helped me initially. "

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Crooks was speaking to the press at the Riverside this week at an MFC Foundation event.

As part of the Premier League Inspires programme, students from North Shore Academy, in Stockton, have been working on a social action project with the theme of environmental sustainability.

Their idea is to plan more trees around the Riverside and surrounding areas. The young students presented their project - Tree, Tree, Treessiders - to Crooks, nicknamed The Tree, ahead of taking part in a nine-school competition at the stadium next week.

Crooks said: “I was really impressed with their idea and the planning they put in to it.

“With my nickname and the title of their project, I had to see what it was all about.”

"I think the world will be a very different place in the next few years with children getting a lot more education on the environment and green initiatives.

"I have two kids myself so I think that’s why I’m conscious of it, because I know how heavily impacted their lives might be by global warming etc.

"So it’s great to see efforts to give young people an education early doors so that they have a better understanding of how to improve the way we live for the future.”