JONATHAN WOODGATE has spelled out his determination to keep Martin Braithwaite at Middlesbrough this summer despite the forward being heavily linked with a return to La Liga.

Braithwaite made his first appearance in a Boro shirt since December this afternoon as he played for the opening 45 minutes of a 4-0 friendly win at Hartlepool United.

Goals from Marcus Tavernier, Rudy Gestede, Aden Flint and George Saville secured an emphatic victory, but Braithwaite’s first-half appearance provided one of the main talking points at Victoria Park, with the Denmark international’s future still in considerable doubt.

Braithwaite spent the second half of last season on loan at Spanish side Leganes, and has previously spoken of a desire to make a permanent departure from the Riverside.

Both Leganes and Girona are understood to have expressed an interest in signing him this summer, but having been impressed by the 28-year-old’s attitude on the training ground in the last few days, Woodgate is keen to keep Braithwaite beyond the end of the transfer window.

“I want him to stay, without a doubt I want him to stay,” said the Boro head coach. “If you’ve got a top-drawer Martin Braithwaite on your team, I tell you what, he'll be some handful.

“He’s been terrific for us in training, he’s been the best player in training, by a country mile. He’s been different class, his attitude has been fantastic, everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done professionally. He’s on to the players, he raises the standard of training.

“You saw today, that crossfield pass he hit to Jonny Howson – he's been fantastic, he’s been really, really good. His ability has never been in question, and his attitude is not in question either. With me, he’s been absolutely first class.”

Having returned to training later than the majority of his team-mates because of his international exertions with Denmark, Braithwaite was withdrawn at half-time today.

He will travel to Germany at the end of the week, and is set to play a much more prominent role in Saturday’s friendly against FC Heidenheim.

Woodgate will be hoping for another step forward against the German opposition, but having eased their way into their domestic pre-season programme at Gateshead on Wednesday, Middlesbrough’s players already looked much sharper this afternoon as they took on a Hartlepool side with three summer outings already under their belt.

Woodgate stuck with the same 4-1-4-1 formation he had fielded at the International Stadium, but Tavernier lined up on the right-hand side rather than in a central position and Saville partnered Paddy McNair behind lone striker Gestede, who replaced Ashley Fletcher with Britt Assombalonga still on leave following his involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It did not take long for the visitors to claim the lead, with Tavernier drilling a fifth-minute strike into the bottom left-hand corner after Saville intelligently rolled a quick free-kick into his path.

Boro’s attempts to play out from the back were a feature of their play all afternoon, occasionally with mixed results, but the Teessiders were sharp and incisive in the final third, adding two more goals towards the end of the first half.

Gestede claimed the first, angling ahead of his marker to meet Jonny Howson’s chipped cross with a header that flew past Pools goalkeeper Ben Killip.

Flint was also on target five minutes later, prodding home McNair’s left-wing cross from inside the six-yard box after the Pools defence failed to deal with a short-corner routine.

Hartlepool’s attacking threat was relatively modest throughout, although former Sunderland forward Luke Molyneux displayed some nice touches cutting in from the right-hand side and left-back Kenton Richardson caused the occasional problem as he overlapped down the flank.

Pools’ best chance of a goal went begging in the early stages of the second half, with Gime Toure firing a rebound against the post after substitute goalkeeper Aynsley Pears parried Nicke Kabamba’s initial strike.

Sixty seconds later, and Boro were celebrating a fourth goal, with Saville steering home from close to the penalty spot after Tavernier crossed from the right.

“I thought the intensity to win the ball back was there for all to see at times,” said Woodgate, who remains hopeful that injured trio George Friend, Daniel Ayala and Dael Fry will be available for the start of the season. “The pressure we wanted when we lose the ball in the final third was there.

“The passing was okay at times, but also at times sloppy and we need to improve on that. We’ll do more work on the training pitch.

“But I was really pleased with the pressing we put onto Hartlepool, I think you could see the pressure we put on them to try and sustain attacks. The lads have worked on the ball constantly, so you’d hope that they’d look sharp. I thought it was an excellent workout.”


Hartlepool (4-3-3): Killip; Kioso, Kerr, Raynes (Cunningham 63), Richardson; Kennedy (Bale 63), Mafuta (Featherstone 57), Holohan (Hawkes 63); Molyneux (James 63), Kabamba (Noble 63), Toure (Muir 63).

Subs (not used): Young (gk), Shepherd, Webster.

Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Mejias (Pears 46); Howson (Spence 63), Flint, Shotton, Coulson (Reading 63); Clayton (Wearne 74); Tavernier (Fletcher 63), McNair (Wing 63), Saville (Malley 63), Braithwaite (Johnson 46); Gestede (Armstrong 74).

Subs (not used): Wood, Stubbs.