Gazza gift ‘softened Boro pain’
Carabao Cup semi-final 2nd leg, Tuesday, 8pm
CRAIG HIGNETT cast his mind back 26 years when Middlesbrough were paired with Chelsea.
Michael Carrick’s Boro hold a 1-0 lead, thanks to midfielder Hayden Hackney, ahead of Tuesday’s second leg against the Premier League Blues.
And Hignett knows the history between the clubs better than most.
In 1997, the midfielder was in the Boro side beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in the FA Cup Final.
A year later, Boro – having lost to Leicester in a ’97 Hillsborough replay – were back at Wembley for a second Coca-cola Cup Final – and Paul Gascoigne was preferred to Hignett in the matchday squad.
Gazza came off the bench for his Boro debut, but Chelsea won 2-0 again.
Hignett was overlooked by boss Bryan Robson after refusing to sign a new contract.
But, despite missing the ’98 Final, Hignett had a keepsake. He said: “Gazza gave me his medal after the game. It was a fantastic gesture and brought a tear to my eye.
“He’d just come to the club and when he found out I wasn’t playing, he said, ‘I’m going to tell Robbo I don’t want to play’. I said, ‘Don’t be daft’.
“After the game, Gazza came up to me with the medal and said, ‘I don’t deserve this, you do’. I said I didn’t want it, and he said, ‘No, please have it’, and he signed it and gave it to me.’’
Hignett reckons Boro will still find it tough at Stamford Bridge.
The winners face either Fulham or Liverpool, who meet on Wednesday, with the Reds 2-1 up.
Hignett said: “I think they’ll be too strong for Boro but, hopefully, Boro will be able to rise to the occasion again.’’