MICHAEL CARRICK does not think Hayden Hackney has reached his peak yet – and fully expects the Middlesbrough midfielder to take his performances to another level this season.

Having missed the final two-and-a-half months of last season through injury, Hackney is determined to start making up for lost time when the new Championship campaign begins at the weekend.

The Redcar-born midfielder turned 22 earlier this summer, but while he is already regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in the Football League, Carrick feels he remains at a relatively early stage of his development.

“Can he kick on again? That’s the challenge for Hayden now,” said the Boro boss, whose side entertain Swansea City in their opening game of the season on Saturday lunchtime. “He’s had a couple of seasons in the first team now, although I know he missed a fair bit last season.

“He wants to kick on and take his game to the next level now and that’s always the challenge of wanting to better yourself.

“I thought he came back in pre-season looking really fit and there’s been a lot of good signs from him. He’s a really good age, with good experience now to take that on to the next level and hopefully progress as the season goes on.”

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Hackney played for the vast majority of Saturday’s final friendly against Heerenveen, which saw Delano Burgzorg’s stoppage-time penalty secure a 1-0 win.

Boro remained unbeaten throughout their domestic pre-season programme, but while Carrick has seen plenty of positive signs from his players, he accepts that will count for little when the real business begins this weekend.

“As I’ve said right through pre-season, it’s all well and good and it all serves a purpose,” he said. “Everything that can be done has been done and the boys have been terrific in how they’ve gone about it.

“No one really remembers what happens in pre-season though. It’s when the season starts that it counts. But what we’ve done is give ourselves a chance with our preparation and we’re looking forward to it starting now.”