Middlesbrough have secured some action for one of their young midfielders by sending out Isaac Fletcher on loan to Hartlepool United until the end of the season, as confirmed on the club's official website.

Boro have recruited well so far this month and with so many players coming in and Chris Wilder still trying to sort out his squad in terms of who is useful for him and who isn't, he has decided to let Fletcher depart on a short-term deal.

The 19-year-old is unlikely to get much regular action at the Riverside Stadium this season, with the player only really featuring for the club's academy side this campaign. Now though, he has joined up with Hartlepool and that should mean more regular competitive football for the midfielder.

 

 

League Two should be a good test of Fletcher's ability and will allow Boro to get a good look at the midfielder to see how he can cope with regular action.

Rather than risk him in the first-team now though with his parent club, he will instead be allowed to try his luck two divisions lower and it should give Chris Wilder a good read on his progress, as well as allowing him to develop into a more complete player by having more exposure to gametime.

Hartlepool will themselves benefit from this deal - and they now have themselves a talented young midfielder to help them out for the rest of the campaign. If he can have as big of an impact for them as he has had in Boro's reserves, then it could be a great bit of business.

The Verdict

Isaac Fletcher has been a mainstay in the Middlesbrough reserve team - and he has looked impressive so far for them.

It will be intriguing them to see if he can handle the step up to more regular competitive football with Hartlepool. It looks like he is more than capable of doing so but Chris Wilder will certainly be keeping a close eye on the situation to see how well he develops.

Middlesbrough won't be able to give him the chances themselves this year because of the sheer amount of options available to them in the centre of the field. Based on his displays in their academy though, it is clear to see that he is ready for the next challenge and this is it for him.

If he can emulate the performances he has put in with the Middlesbrough reserve team, then it could be a shred bit of business for Hartlepool. The side will certainly be better off with the talented midfielder in their ranks for the second half of the campaign.