Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has used imminent Hull signing George Boateng as a warning to players who think they deserve to be selected on reputation.
"I can understand that because the way we have worked as a club in the past is that certain people were guaranteed a place in the team.
"But we need that competition for places and I have to pick on form and not on reputation as we move forward.
"George knows that if he is here he will get the fair crack that everybody else will but he seems to feel that it would be better for him if he moved on."
