"Rhys is a good player," Young told Boro's website. "When I first arrived at Boro I asked him why he wasn't in the first team squad, because I saw him in training and he was very good on the ball and had a lot of ability.

"In fact the first thing I noticed was the quality of the young lads, even some who are not in the first team squad, they're obviously doing something right in the Academy.

"The difficulty will be keeping them happy when they're not playing because the likes of Jonno will want to be involved more and more."