I'M JUST LOVING LIFE AT BORO'

Loanee repays Carrick's faith

-  Chris Dunlavy

SAM Greenwood couldn’t be happier playing for Middlesbrough, but his mates? They’re not so pleased. “I get stick all the time,” laughs the 21-year-old Leeds loanee, who was born in Seaham and grew up supporting Boro’s north-east rivals Sunderland.

“Absolutely all the time. It’s just banter though, and they’re good lads. Even the ones who are Sunderland fans come to watch Boro games. They sit with my family and support me above everything else, which is pretty nice.”

Greenwood doesn’t need encouragement from anybody right now. The England Under-21 forward has scored four goals in his last six matches, including the opener in a record 4-0 trouncing of Sunderland (“that didn’t go down well,” he admits) and a late winner against table-topping Leicester in Boro’s final game before the recent international break.

In fact, since Greenwood arrived at the Riverside on deadline day, Middlesbrough have lost just twice in 11 games - a run that 

has banished memories of a dreadful start to the season and thrust Michael Carrick's side firmly into the promotion hunt.

"I can't take the credit for that," insists Greenwood. "It's the team, not me. All the lads have been playing well, but I think they were all along.

"When I came and I saw the quality of the players, even though we were getting beat, I could see we would turn it around. I could just tell. The training, the standards, the manager there was no way we should have been down at the bottom. It was obvious."

Aggression

Modesty aside, Greenwood's arrival has been integral to Middlesbrough's improvement. The former Arsenal youngster's eye for goal, set-piece prowess and ferocious intensity bring an extra dimension to Carrick's four-man front line.