MIDDLESBROUGH’S Christian Burgess will spend at least half the new season on loan at Hartlepool United.

The centre-half appeared as a substitute for Pools in their friendly with Preston on Friday evening, with a loan deal to be signed in the coming days.

Burgess played for Boro in last week’s friendly at Rotherham and boss Tony Mowbray is keen for the one-time Arsenal trainee to gain firstteam experience.

“We’ve agreed a loan with Middlesbrough. Christian is someone I’ve a lot of time for,’’ said Pools boss Colin Cooper.

“If we do what I really want to do, then we need people who can defend and play football and he can certainly do that and he will be an asset for this club.

“At this moment I think it will be a loan deal until Christmas, then we will reassess it.

“I’ve no doubt he will play for Middlesbrough in his career, but at the moment Tony believes his development is ongoing.

“He’s played in pre-season for them and I think he will be a good acquisition for us.’’ Burgess, 21, signed a twoyear deal at the Riverside last summer, when he was was studying history at Birmingham University after a spell at Bishop’s Stortford.

He is continuing his history degree at Teesside University.

Cooper is ready to put his defensive faith in both Burgess and Jack Baldwin in the new season, which starts at Rochdale on Saturday.

“I think Jack is a terrific young player, at that age, and Christian is the same,’’ said Cooper.

“From the conversations I’ve had with Tony and Christian it is clear that with young players you are trying to develop and mature, every now and again they might drop a bomb – but they are doing it the right way and I see that in Jack.

“That’s why Jack, if he listens, learns and picks up on the things I would like to teach him, he can play at a decent level.”

Cooper, a former Boro coach, is keen to foster a close relationship with his old club, and is looking at a number of players for loan spells.

Boro boss Mowbray admitted: “They have one or two issues how they can contribute to salaries. We have an ongoing relationship to the point we will play some of our under-21s games there. I’m sure something could be worked out and hopefully Burgess will play some football and they can get a player who can benefit their team.

“Yet business is business.

We can’t keep giving players away who we pay salaries to for nothing, but there is a balance.

For us it’s about Burgess getting game time like Ben (Gibson) did.’’ Cooper is also looking to tie up a deal for striker Nialle Rodney, while teenage midfielder Bradley Walker will sign professional terms this weekend.

The future of striker Steve Howard is to be resolved in the coming days. He didn’t feature against Preston and, while on loan at Sheffield Wednesday last season, made clear his desire to continue his career away from Victoria Park.

Cooper, however, admitted he could stay.

“If Stevie sorts himself and decides he wants to be a Hartlepool player, which we’ve said from day one we hope he does, he can get 20 goals in this league, no problem,’’ he said.