MICAH HAMILTON is set to make his Middlesbrough debut against Leeds United this evening, with Michael Carrick initially having earmarked the 20-year-old for a right-sided attacking role.

Hamilton joined Boro in a permanent move from Manchester City at the end of the week, signing a four-year deal with the Teessiders, but was an unused substitute in Saturday’s season-opening win over Swansea City.

He has still only had a handful of training sessions with his new team-mates, but he is match fit after playing with Manchester City throughout pre-season and will be part of the Boro squad that lines up at Elland Road in the Carabao Cup first round.

“Micah will be involved,” said Carrick. “We’re still managing him and settling him in. He’s been at Man City since he was six, so it’s a big change moving up here.

“He’s had a stop-start couple of weeks really as well, having been away (in the United States with Man City) and therefore not training much last week. We’ll be careful and manage him right, but certainly, he’ll be involved and it’s good to have him. Hopefully, we can get him on the pitch.”

Hamilton could well start on the bench against Leeds, with his attacking versatility having been one of the key reasons why Carrick and the rest of Boro’s recruitment team were so keen to bring him in.

READ MORE:

The youngster played in a number of different attacking positions in Manchester City’s youth ranks, but his best chance of breaking into Boro’s first team would appear to be on the right-hand side of the attack.

Isaiah Jones is established as the first-choice option on the right-hand side, but his main deputy, Marcus Forss, remains unavailable through injury and is expected to miss a big chunk of the autumn. Sonny Finch impressed in pre-season, but Hamilton will initially be challenged to push Jones as hard as possible.

“I think the beauty of Micah, and most of the players across the forward line, is that they can play two or three different roles,” said Carrick. “Micah can play left or right no problem. He can play as a ten.

“I’m not going to pigeonhole him at this stage, but I think the obvious one this early will be playing off the right, although really, I don’t just see him in that role. Again, we want to be patient and help him settle in because it’s a big change for him coming here. I think we’ll see him develop as the season goes. But, like a number of the players, I certainly wouldn’t put him down for just one spot.”