GARRY MONK will carry on putting his faith in Middlesbrough’s young players for as long as they continue providing him with the kind of performances that helped sweep the Teessiders into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup tonight.

Patrick Bamford’s second-half brace secured a 2-0 win at Aston Villa, and ensured Boro will be one of the 16 teams involved in tomorrow’s fourth-round draw.

Bamford’s goals came courtesy of a penalty and a back-post header, and were set up by two of the youngsters promoted to the starting line-up from the Under-23s. Lewis Wing, who joined Boro from Northern League side Shildon in June, enabled Bamford to win a spot-kick with a slide-rule pass, before 18-year-old Marcus Tavernier, making his second senior start, delivered an inviting cross for the striker’s second.

The pair were joined by debutant George Miller in the closing stages, and having championed the development of young players at each of his previous clubs, Monk is determined to continue Middlesbrough’s proud record of producing home-grown talent.

“They’ve been working with us on a daily basis and have been doing really well in the Under-23s games,” said Monk, who watched his side take full advantage of the second-half dismissal of Villa defender Tommy Elphick. “I’ve said it all along, I like working with young players and giving them an opportunity, but that opportunity has to be earned.

“Lewis and Marcus earned that opportunity, and did well with it, and so did George (Miller) who also had his debut tonight (off the bench). I’m very keen to ensure that pathway is there, but that pathway can only be there if they earn the right, and those guys have done that.

“The lads from the Under-23s are earning that right at the moment, and it’s important they continue in the same way.”

Monk made ten changes for last night’s game, with skipper Ben Gibson the only survivor from the side that started against QPR last weekend.

The likes of Bamford, Ashley Fletcher, Connor Roberts and Daniel Ayala pushed their first-team claims, and have given their manager a selection headache ahead of Saturday’s Championship trip to Fulham.

Monk insists he does not have a particularly big squad, but most Championship managers will be envious of the depth of talent at his disposal. That talent pool could be crucial as the season unfolds, and the Boro boss is delighted with the level of competition within his first-team group.

“We did exactly what we wanted to,” he said. “I thought we were excellent from start to finish. It was a really good team performance. There were changes, but you have to trust your players, and I do.

“I trust all of them. I’ve been working with them since we’ve come in, and we know what we’ve got in terms of what we’re working with. They know exactly what they have to do when they go on the pitch, and exactly what we want them to do.

“I thought they delivered that and were excellent from start to finish. I thought we dominated, especially in that second half. We said at half-time we’d done well in the first half, but if we could up that pace, there’d be opportunities to be had. We probably could have had one or two more if we had been a bit more composed, but there is no criticism tonight at all. I thought we were excellent.”

Bamford will hope to start at Craven Cottage on Saturday, although Britt Assombalonga has been in decent form himself and scored in last weekend’s win over QPR. With Martin Braithwaite also approaching full fitness after recovering from a hamstring complaint, Boro boast an embarrassment of attacking riches as they look to combine the rigours of the league programme with an ongoing League Cup campaign.

“They all think they should be playing, but that’s what you want,” said Monk, who confirmed Ben Gibson’s half-time withdrawal was to rest the defender rather than because of an injury. “The job is to get a competitive squad.

“We don’t have a big squad, it’s not massive, but we have a really competitive squad and the spirit and commitment from all of them is clearly there. You can see it, that’s why we’ve been getting the performances we have. I want my decisions to be tough. I’ve had to make difficult decisions already this season in terms of picking the team and the squad, but that’s what I want. They understand that, even if they won’t all be happy with the decisions.”