JONATHAN WOODGATE has hinted he will prioritise experience when he looks to sign players this summer, after admitting it is important Middlesbrough’s emerging crop of youngsters have some older faces around them.

Since taking over from Tony Pulis at the start of the summer, Woodgate has consistently promised to promote youngsters from the Under-23 set-up into the first-team squad, and the new head coach was as good as his word on Wednesday as a host of young players were involved in Boro’s friendly win at Gateshead.

Paddy Reading, a 20-year-old full-back, joined Stephen Wearne, an 18-year-midfielder, and Hayden Coulson, a 21-year-old who can play in defence or midfield, in the starting line-up, with Brad James, Djed Spence, Sam Stubbs, Nathan Wood, Nathan Dale, Connor Malley and Luke Armstrong all coming off the bench in the second half.

The majority will get another chance to impress when Boro continue their pre-season preparations at Hartlepool United tomorrow afternoon, but by the time the opening Championship fixture comes around in just under a month, Woodgate accepts it would be wrong to throw a host of untried youngsters into the first team.

The experienced core of the current squad will be important, along with a handful of recruits that should start arriving in the next couple of weeks.

“It’s important to have a mix,” said Woodgate. “I said about the young players at my first press conference, and maybe everyone’s got a bit carried away with that. But you need the experience around them. You can’t just throw them all in and see what happens.

“When I was coming through as a young player at Leeds, I had a load of experienced players around me. When I was at Newcastle, I had Alan Shearer, Gary Speed, Shay Given, Steve Harper. Who’s better to learn from than that?

“We need those type of players. You know what the Championship’s like, it’s a difficult league, so you need that experience around the young players to bring them on. Look at someone like young Paddy Reading – he couldn’t have a better role model than George Friend. George has been unbelievable with the young lads, and he’ll carry on being unbelievable for this football club.

“On the other side of the pitch at Gateshead, you had Stephen Wearne, with Jonny Howson playing behind him, helping him. There’s things within the football club that will help these young players, and if we can draft one or two more players in with experience, then perfect.”

When Tony Pulis was in charge, the pathway between the Under-23s and first team was effectively blocked. Lewis Wing and Marcus Tavernier forced their way into the senior squad, but it always felt as though Pulis was selecting the duo under duress, not because he felt they were genuinely ready to make their mark.

Woodgate will adopt a different approach, having been able to ascertain the mental capabilities of his youngsters during his as a coach with the academy.

“I know them all,” he said. “I’ve worked with them at Under-18 level, and done a lot of work with them at Under-23 level too. I know all the Under-23 players from last year. I’ve done a lot of work with them all, and know their personalities. The ones that don’t want to come along for the ride, that’s fine, they can go out of the door. But the ones that do, they’re the ones that I want.

“They’d be stupid if they weren’t (buying in to his plans), wouldn’t they? They’d be stupid if they weren’t. If they don’t want to come for the ride, they can move on, it’s as simple as that. I’ve seen top-quality players, better than me, not make it when I was at Leeds. They had all the ability in the world, but if you don’t have the desire and the willingness to make sacrifices, it’s no good. If you haven’t got that, you won’t be here with me.”

Martin Braithwaite is set to make his first pre-season appearance at Victoria Park tomorrow, having missed Wednesday’s game because of a slight thigh strain. Friend could also be involved, although he remains slightly behind the rest of the squad in terms of fitness after carrying a slight injury into the start of the summer.