MIDDLESBROUGH have been urged to move swiftly if they want to secure the services of promising Bohemians striker Ali Reghba.

The 18-year-old is on a two week trial at Rockliffe Park having been brought over because of the strong links between the two clubs.

But there is no shortage of interested parties in the teenager, with Leeds United known to be keen among others.

Middlesbrough are in the strongest position to secure his services given that he is already training at the Hurworth training base.

Reghba has impressed for Bohemians in the League of Ireland and scored two goals on his debut in September.

He is also part of the Republic of Ireland Under-18s and Middlesbrough are weighing up whether to make a firm move for him.

Middlesbrough have been keeping an eye on talents in Ireland in recent years, which explains why they have shown an interest in Portsmouth’s Ronan Curtis.

The 22-year-old has struck six times and recorded six assists in 15 appearances for Pompey but made a name for himself with Derry City before his switch to the south coast club.

If Reghba was to arrive permanently then he would form part of Paul Stephenson’s Under-23s squad.

Stephenson was pleased with the attitude of his Under-21s performance on Wednesday night when Middlesbrough finally recorded a first Checkatrade Trophy victory at the ninth attempt.

Boro won 1-0 at Nigel Clough’s Burton at the Pirelli Stadium, where there were only 202 supporters watching.

Middlesbrough have entered the Checkatrade Trophy for the last three seasons as an Under-21s side but have yet to progress from the group stages.

And defeats to Walsall and Port Vale - who have both qualified from Group E - meant the Burton game was purely for pride this season.

But Middlesbrough celebrated like they wanted it when substitute Hayden Hackney headed in the 87th minute winner.

Stephenson said: “Any game that you play away from home, it’s not always pretty you’ve got to work hard for every scrap that you get and you don’t come away to entertain, you go there to make it difficult for your opponents.

“The lads are absolutely buzzing and we’re really proud of them but it doesn’t end there, it’s a good little run we’re on but the hard work starts now, you can never get complacent.

“Some of those lads have got very wide grins, it means a lot to young players. There’s some in there like Ben (Liddle) who’s been in the Under-23s maybe a year now, Connor (Malley), they’ve had a couple of games where they’ve had tough nights to endure that so it’s nice for them to taste the other side of it.

“Everybody starts somewhere and the challenge to them now is to keep working hard and don’t think they’ve cracked it. The day you think you’ve cracked it in football you are in trouble.”

After ending the eight-match losing run, Stephenson added: “I said to the lads, ‘Newcastle have won a few (in the Checkatrade) and we’ve just beaten Newcastle and beat them very comfortably so why can’t we? There’s nothing stopping us, you can do it’. It’s great for them that they’ve got over the line.”