CHILD’S PLAY
Kid tells Fletcher: ‘Buck up your ideas’
ASHLEY FLETCHER was given a brutal verdict on Middlesbrough’s health during a hospital visit to cheer up sick children.
“A little lad, eight years old, told us we need to buck our ideas up,” said the striker. “He’s not wrong.” Middlesbrough, on a run
of two wins in 15 games, take on fellow strugglers Stoke tonight before hosting Danny Cowley’s Huddersfield on Boxing Day.
Those two matches could go a long way to determining whether Jonathan Woodgate’s men get out of their current predicament.
Summer departures and recent injuries have made new
Vboss Woodgate’s life difficult, but Fletcher says the former England defender should be given time to prove himself.
“He’s been fantastic,” said Fletcher, below right, at the hospital with team-mate Jonny Howson.
“Last summer we lost players like Mo Besic, Jordan Hugill and John Obi Mikel, so it is a transition and it is going to take time. The manager has never panicked once and we know how good we are as a team. It is just about getting the results right, putting the wins together, and hopefully we will then get out of this mess that we are in.
“Jonathan’s been fantastic with me personally. He knows my strengths and weaknesses, and he’s obviously very keen to give me a bit of leadership as well.
“I can’t fault him in any way and I just hope we can turn it around for his sake.”
Fletcher says Boro’s plight is not as bad as what he encountered with North-east rivals Sunderland, when he was part of their Championship relegation season.
He said: “At Sunderland there was no getting away from it – it was so tough.
“Off-the-field problems weren’t helping and there was uncertainty with players.
“Whereas with us here, everyone is pulling in the same direction and everyone wants to get out of this problem.”
NAME: LUKE MATHESON
CLUB: Rochdale
AGE: 17
POSITION: Right-back
WHAT THEY SAY: The England Under-17 international has been quietly going about his business in League One after making waves earlier this season.
He was given a day off from school in September to score against Manchester United in the Carabao
Cup as a 16-year-old, only turning professional a month later when he was old enough to sign up.
They say he is now playing with a £10million price tag on his head, with United, Manchester City and Newcastle all in the hunt.
WHAT HE SAYS: “That United goal will be with me for
HE COULD BE THE NEXT: Steve Nicol. Have to go back to the Anfield team of the Eighties to think of a goalscoring right-back – for some reason it seems to be the left-backs who get all the goals.