Source: Northern_Echo
Folan to complete Riverside loan move
CALEB FOLAN will complete a three-month loan move to the Riverside today, and the striker will join a Middlesbrough side that fellow newcomer Sean St Ledger believes boasts more match-winners than almost any other team in the Championship.
Folan is expected to train with the rest of the Boro squad this morning after Hull City agreed to his release until late December, with a view to a permanent £3m transfer in January.
The 26-year-old, who has played in four of Hull’s opening five Premier League matches, is fully match fit, and is expected to go straight into the Boro squad for Saturday’s home game with West Brom.
Having started his career as a trainee with Leeds United, Folan played for Chesterfield and Wigan before moving to Humberside in August 2007, but a record of nine goals in 48 league appearances has persuaded Phil Brown to let him move on. We talked long and hard over the last two weeks over who we would let go,”
said the Hull boss. “We always look to make decisions with a view to progress and as a result, we’ve allowed Caleb to talk with Middlesbrough.
“There are a lot of players on the front line competing for places. Caleb didn’t score in his four games (this season) and didn’t really look like scoring either.”
Folan and St Ledger know each other well from linking up with the Republic of Ireland national team, and Boro’s latest defensive recruit says his compatriot will join a club capable of winning the league this season.
St Ledger was an 82ndminute substitute as Middlesbrough won 3-1 at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night, and having only completed his own three-month loan move from Preston hours earlier, the 24-year-old was impressed with his new club’s display.
“It was a great performance,”
said St Ledger. “In the Championship, you often find fairly decent teams that don’t have any match-winners.
The difference with this Middlesbrough side is that there’s two or three genuine match-winners, and that can make a massive difference in a tight game.
“That could be the difference between us winning the league and finishing in the play-offs.
“If our match-winners fire, we’ll be a massive handful for anyone in this league.”
St Ledger left a Preston side with promotion hopes of their own in order to move to the Riverside, but the Birmingham- born defender feels Boro harbour better prospects of playing Premier League football next season.
Despite starting the Republic of Ireland’s last five matches, St Ledger has never played in the top-flight, and with his current loan move expected to turn into a permanent transfer in January, he is desperate to experience Premier League football on Teesside.
“I’ve come to Middlesbrough because I’m ambitious and I want to play in the Premier League,” he said. “I’m sure that’s true of everyone in the changing room.
“Middlesbrough are a big club and I feel as though this is my best chance of getting into the Premier League.”
