Middlesbrough and England U21s midfielder Hayden Hackney has spoken to Teesside TV at the launch of a campaign to raise awareness of knife crime in the area, about achieving his dreams to play for his hometown club, the Importance of this initiative, and whether the club can be promoted. Daniel Wales with the interview.
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00:00Yeah, it's a dream. I always say it's a dream, but it is. And that's what I grew up wishing
00:09I could do, and now I'm doing it, so it's great.
00:13At an event on Tuesday launching Middlesbrough's No More Red campaign to raise awareness of
00:18knife crime in the area, Hackney outlined why the issue was so important to him, given
00:23his roots.
00:24Like you say, me and Dale were here today, and it means a lot to us because we are from
00:30this area, so hopefully we can change that. We advise people not to wear red on Saturday
00:36to raise as much awareness as we can, so hopefully we can do that.
00:41On the pitch, Middlesbrough gave up a two-goal lead away at Norwich on Sunday, having been
00:463-1 up in the second half. A missed penalty which would have made it 4-1 was perhaps the
00:51turning point, but Hackney thought differently.
00:53Yeah, obviously I don't think the penalty was anything to do with it. I think we could
00:59have managed the game a little bit better. But yeah, I think we had chances after that
01:04as well to put the game to bed, but unfortunately we couldn't do that.
01:08Despite that disappointment, Hackney was adamant that this side has the quality to look upwards
01:13in the Championship and aim for promotion to the Premier League, whether that be automatically
01:18or via the play-offs.
01:20No, 100 per cent. I think we can really go on and get up there, whether that be in the
01:25play-offs or automatic. I think the quality is there. I think it's just consistency, trying
01:30to get that consistency, which we're working on. Hopefully we can be right up there.
01:36Individually, Hackney is not only admired by those at Middlesbrough, but also at the
01:40FA, and has become a regular call-up to England's under-21 side. He made clear his enjoyment
01:46at being part of the national squads, and how the coaching differs from what he experiences
01:51when at Middlesbrough.
01:54No, great, yeah. All the coaches have been really good. Didn't really feel like a change,
02:00everything was just normal. All really nice guys, and obviously they can help you a lot
02:05whilst you're away with them. It's something different, different people coaching you,
02:11different sessions, if you like. So yeah, it's good.
02:15Returning to matters on Teesside, Hackney previewed this weekend's encounter with Coventry
02:22City at the Riverside Stadium, and doubled down on the fact that Borough are good enough
02:27to challenge at the top of the championship this season, under head coach Michael Carrick.
02:33A win on Saturday against Coventry would be the perfect way to cement that aim, and to
02:38begin building momentum going forward.
02:41No, yeah, we're really excited for Saturday. Take each game as it comes, and see if we
02:47can win the game. I think the squad's big enough and strong enough to be right up there
02:54and challenging for that.