MICHAEL Carrick has described Hayden Hackney as the "life and soul of the football club" after the Teessider captained Middlesbrough for the very first time.

With club captain Jonny Howson rested for the FA Cup third round tie against Aston Villa on Saturday, Carrick says Hackney - who returned to the team after injury - was the "perfect candidate" to wear the armband.

Carrick only told the Redcar-born midfielder that he was going to be skipper shortly before Saturday's game - and wasn't at all surprised by Hackney's response.

“Hayden doesn’t really react to much," laughed the head coach.

"He just gets on with it. He was obviously proud. I told him just before here today at the game. He doesn’t really make a big deal out of much, to be honest though. He just gets on with it and that’s exactly how he played.

“I just thought he deserved it. He’s the life and soul of the football club. It is what it is, he’s come through the academy, supported the club from day dot. It makes him the perfect candidate for it.

"I’m not saying he’s going to be captain for every day, but today was the perfect opportunity for it and I was really proud.

"It was nice for him to be captain and I thought he dealt with that incredibly well. It’s not easy because it’s a massive thing for him. It was a proud moment for me as well to actually give it to him."

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Carrick described Hackney's return after 10 games out with a groin injury as a "huge boost". The initial plan on Saturday was for the 21-year-old to only play the first half but he ended up getting almost an hour under his belt before he was replaced, and he's now in contention for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Carrick said:  "To be out for five or six weeks and then come in and train for two days properly, it was a case of, do we bring him off the bench?

"We thought it would be better off starting him and then bringing him off at half time. But in the end he stayed on a bit longer because he was doing so well. But the plan was to take him off at half-time. It just shows how well he was doing.

"I thought some of his football and his little moments when he’s hardly kicked a ball for six weeks was top drawer."