CRAIG Liddle was sat at his desk in his Rockliffe office recently when there was a knock at the door.

There, waiting to speak to Middlesbrough's academy manager, was one of the club's hopes for the future, a 16-year-old defender who had just trained with the first team for the very first time.

"He's a big Middlesbrough fan and he was starstruck when he first got up there," smiles Liddle.

"He came in and thanked me. I said it's nothing to do with me, you deserve it, you've earned that opportunity."

It's a conversation that's taken place on several occasions in Liddle's office over the course of the last two years, for head coach Michael Carrick won't hesitate in giving the club's youngsters a taste of the first team environment if they're deserving.

This week, with several senior stars away on international duty, as many as 10 academy youngsters joined in with first team training.

"We've had a couple of first year scholars who are fresh out of school at 16 who've had the opportunity in recent months," said Liddle, who is obviously reluctant to name names to ensure the club's promising stars aren't burdened with the weight of any external expectations.

"The coaches have discussions about who's doing well and Michael will see it himself. Sometimes it's position specific, one of the midfielders might get an injury and that opens the gap for a 21s midfielder, so discussions are going on daily.

"I meet with Michael and Kieran [Scott, head of football] on a regular basis to discuss progress and look at who the next loan might be or where opportunities might arise to step into the first team environment.

"There's a real togetherness. It's not really 18s, 21s, first team, they train on the pitches next to each other, they all know each other and it's a really positive environment."

Liddle and the staff in Boro's academy coach, mentor and make dreams come true. Earlier this week the former Darlington defender sat down in front of the TV to watch Bradford City's League Two game against Newport County and felt the familiar rush of pride at the sight of several former Boro youngsters, including Richie Smallwood, Calum Kavanagh and Brad Halliday.

Turning potential into professionals is the aim of Liddle and the academy coaches - the ultimate ambition, of course, to produce first team players for Boro.

And the famed Rockliffe academy continues to churn out success stories.

In Carrick's first team squad now are the likes of Sol Brynn, George McCormick and Law McCabe; hopes are still high for Josh Coburn, who is out on loan at Millwall - and then there's Hayden Hackney.

Hackney was long fancied for a first team breakthrough and extremely highly-rated at Rockliffe as he developed through the age groups but after a difficult loan spell at Scunthorpe and not fancied by former boss Chris Wilder, the midfielder was, in the words of Liddle, "probably on his way out".

That was until Wilder's exit and Liddle, part of the interim management team supporting Leo Percovich, played a starring role in the breakthrough of a player who has since established himself as one of the Championship's shining lights and an England Under-21 international.

"It's never nice to see a manager losing his job but Chris leaving gave Hayden an opportunity and he's taken it and moved to a level nobody could have predicted," says Liddle.

"I remember the morning before the Birmingham game [the first game after Wilder's exit], I put him on the board and said to Leo, 'trust me on this one, he really needs to play'.

"I'd seen him since Under-13, I'd seen him play in the 16s, 18s, 21s, I'd seen his loan games, I'd seen him train with the first team. It was just an instinct.

"My take was the midfield needed some energy. Leo agreed and backed me on that one and I thought he did really well against Birmingham."

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To say he's done really well since is an understatement. Yet Carrick tells at every opportunity of how Hackney is unchanged as a character and remains as understated and modest as he was when the head coach arrived.

That pleases Liddle.

"When the boys come in and sign with us as kids, we always say you speak to everybody equally, whether it's the first team manager or the kitchen staff, everybody speaks to each other in the same way," he says,

"That's something we demand on a daily basis. So when they do go into the first team environment, nothing has changed."

Something else that is stressed to Boro's youngsters is that progress isn't linear.

"You see Tav [Marcus Tavernier] playing at the highest level now, he's a great example," says Liddle.

"He had a setback by leaving Newcastle, we took him in, he left everything on the training pitch or football pitch every time he trained or played.

"We always say everyone's journey is different and there will be bumps in the road along the way.

"Hayden went to Scunthorpe and there was people in the game asking if you're not playing regular for Scunthorpe, how can you be good enough for Boro. That's something you have to look beyond."

Liddle often has to also look beyond results. Obviously there's always a desire to win but long-term development is always the priority in the academy age groups.

"This year we took a conscious decision at the top end that we'd go very young in the Under-21s and the Under-18s and stretch our stronger players," he says.

"So the average age of our 21 squad this year has been 18.3, which at times has shown because they found it tough but we've found a lot of benefits because a lot of the younger lads have been exposed.

"We've had a couple of 16 year olds in with the 21s, so they've been exposed to a higher standard and level.

"Nobody likes getting beat but you look at the bigger picture. You want to get the balance between keeping the young lads confident and developing them but testing them at the best level we can.

"The first team staff are really strong on development, they come and watch the games and take note of what the lads are doing."

Key in development for youngsters is often a loan move, but while Liddle obviously has input in those discussions, the decision ultimately lies with Carrick and Kieran Scott.

"It often depends on whether it's the right club at the right time," explains Liddle.

"If you look at Sonny [Finch], for example, and look at what he had in front of him in terms of strikers, he'd probably passed Under-21s football so rather than keep him here just training and playing the odd Under-21s game, the decision was made that he needs to go and play regular senior football.

"A lot of thinking and planning goes into that and we use our contacts and relationships to find what we think is the best club for any player at that time. When we sent Sonny to MK Dons it was Mike Williamson as manager. We'd seen how Gateshead played under Mike previously and the manager, the team and the style suited Sonny. Unfortunately the manager has since left there but we can still see how Sonny develops."

There are countless examples of youngsters from Teesside and the surrounding areas progressing through the academy ranks at Boro but in recent years they've been joined by young Londoners, with the club tapping into the talent-pool in the capital thanks mainly to the work of Martin Carter, head of academy recruitment.

Djed Spence was spotted and signed before being sold to Tottenham for a huge profit, while Isaiah Jones was plucked from the London non-league scene.

"Our remit has always been to make sure we get the best young talent from Teesside and the surrounding areas," says Liddle.

"But we've done a lot of good work in the London area and we have scouts in the Birmingham area too.

"It's hard because we aren't blessed with a huge scouting network compared to some clubs but it's a team that does a great job.

"When you see boys that have come with us through playing not just for our first team but elsewhere, it's fantastic to have given them the platform to have what I believe is the best job in the world."