Source: Eurosport
McMahon.
Stewart Downing has blazed a trail for a new generation of Middlesbrough youngsters as they attempt to make their way in the game.
The 24-year-old England international is currently wearing the captain's armband for his home-town club with Emanuel Pogatetz sidelined by a knee injury. Downing, who might have left the Riverside Stadium in January as Tottenham launched a concerted bid to finally land a long-term target, has produced some of his best form since being told he would not be allowed to go.
He will sit down with chairman Steve Gibson and manager Gareth Southgate during the summer to discuss the way forward, although the success or otherwise of Boro's desperate fight for Barclays Premier League survival will have a significant part to play in their chances of holding on to one of their prize assets.
But whatever happens at the end of the season, fellow Academy graduate Tony McMahon knows Downing has already shown the latest crop of youngsters the path to the top.
McMahon said: "Stewie is the one everyone looks up to, all the young lads.
Everyone wants to do what Stewie Downing has done. He has come right through the youth system, captained the first team and has gone on to play for England, so he is the one we all look up to and we all want to be.
"He is the perfect example. You just have to look at what he has done. He has come from Pallister Park, where he is from, all the way through, and now he is a regular in Fabio Capello's squad. It's not coincidence. If you work hard and you do what he's done, then you go on to have a great career."
